Da Capo Al Fine: Season 2
by Cassie Valentine
Summary: Continuation of Da Capo Al Fine. Jess comes to town, things get more complicated for Lorelai and Luke and Emily sees her dreams for the perfect family slip away as Charlie nears her first birthday.
1. Chapter 1

Season 2

* * *

Rory groaned as she rolled out of bed and blindly stumbled towards the vicinity of the phone that was ringing.

"Hello?" she asked as she collapsed onto the couch. Luke had finally dropped her off at home somewhere around 3 am and by the time she had finally fallen asleep, it was closer to 4.

"Rory! What on earth are you still doing in bed?"

"Grandma?" she asked, waking up slightly. Talking with Emily Gilmore required at least part of her brain.

"Of course Rory," she said, tapping her foot slightly. "Tell me all about it."

"About what?" she asked as she dragged herself to the kitchen to start the coffee.

"About what . . . About the delivery! I can't get through to your mother until after 10." Rory squinted at the clock, it was only 8:30.

"Uh, I wasn't there. I mean, I wasn't in the room, Sookie was."

"What's a Sookie?"

"Sookie, Grandma," Rory said as she dumped the coffee grounds into the canister before flipping the on switch. "Mom's best friend? She's the chef at the Inn."

"Where was your father?"

"Stuck in California. He couldn't get a flight out," she said as she stared at the pot, willing it to go faster before she headed towards the pop tarts. "It's a girl, by the way," she tacked on.

"Wonderful! Richard, a girl!" Emily called. "Name, weight, height?"

"Charlotte Abigail, we're gonna call her Charlie. 6 pounds 10 oz, 18 inches," Rory rattled off to her grandmother as she quickly repeated it back to Richard.

"Well, at least she's not another Lorelai . . . Who does she look like?"

"Me, as far as I can tell," she said as she was finally able to pour herself a cup of coffee. "Why don't you and Grandpa just head down? Visiting hours start at 10 too," she pointed out as she picked up the pop tart that had just popped out of the toaster as well.

"That's a wonderful idea! Will we see you there?"

"Probably not right away. I have some homework to finish so I was planning to head up around noon."

"Well, you just call before you leave and you stop at the house first, we'll all go over together, alright?"

"Sure," Rory said, a little confused as to where this new sunny attitude had come from. Her grandmother had spend the months since Christopher had left lecturing and preaching about learning from your mistakes and the humiliation of having a second illegitimate grandchild. While she had never said such things when Rory was in the room, Lorelai had passed them along, simply to keep Rory apprised of why the relationship between her mother and grandmother had suddenly gotten extremely cool once again.

"Wonderful! We'll see you this afternoon then."

"Okay. Bye Grandma," she said as they finally hung up. "Weird," was all she could get out as she looked at the phone for a moment. She put it down on the counter as she finished her pop tart and coffee. She quickly headed to her bedroom and after taking a long moment to look forlornly at her bed and then to the stack of homework on her desk, she decided that 2 more hours of sleep wouldn't hurt and that she'd still have plenty of time to finish up her homework, drive up to Hartford for a few hours and return to get a start on her extra credit work. "Mmmm . . Still warm," she muttered as she snuggled back under the covers.

* * *

"I don't know if I'll be able to make it Emily," Richard replied after she spilled out their plans for the afternoon.

"It's Saturday Richard," she pointed out. "You don't have any work on Saturday."

"I have plans, Emily," he told her, almost patronizingly. "I'm meeting Randal at the club at 3."

"Well reschedule," she said as she followed him into his study. "We're going to meet the baby." Richard kept his back to Emily as he looked at one of the book shelves in his study. He was still quite angry over the entire situation and didn't particularly feel like celebrating yet another blemish that Lorelai had wrought upon the Gilmore name.

"I can't, this is business," he said, finally picking out a book and heading to one of the chairs to sit.

"Richard Gilmore! You will be ready to leave this house as soon as Rory gets here. You will put on a smile and be happy for Rory and Lorelai and you will hold that baby," she informed him. The two of them locked eyes for a moment. "You will be civil about this," she said. "I would like to see this granddaughter grow up," she said, pointing a finger at him before leaving the study. She had phone calls to make, announcements to prepare and a gift to wrap.

Richard sulked into his novel for a moment before he laid it in his lap. For all of Lorelai's failings, she did tend to produce remarkable children, if Rory was any example. He also supposed the Emily was right about having a chance to be in the child's life full time instead of the patchy relationship he'd had with Rory. "Hmm," was all he could say to the empty room as he turned back to his novel.

* * *

"You will never guess who woke me up at 8:30 this morning."

"It wouldn't happen to be a rather butch looking nurse by the name of Wanda, would it?" Lorelai asked over the phone as she played with Charlie's hands.

"Almost," Rory said, balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder as she flipped through one of her text books. "Grandma called."

"That would be why she hasn't called here yet. Or shown up."

"We'll be there around 1. I'm driving up to Hartford at about noon and Grandma wants me to stop there first."

"Hmm," she said as she ways to make the visit as short as possible.

"Grandma seemed really excited," Rory filled in as she finished up her last question for Chemistry. "Oh, hold on, I'm beeping," Rory said as call waiting went off in her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey kid!" Christopher said.

"Hey, when did you get in?"

"I was at the hotel by 7 and I only meant to sit down for a second, but, here we are." Rory smiled, she knew that feeling.

"I'm heading up to Hartford around noon," she told him. "You should phone Grandma, I'm stopping there first."

"Will do," he said. "Hey, you talk to your mom yet today?"

"She's on the other line," Rory filled in as she put her books away. "Charlie's fine and mom is ready to get out of there. Something about scary nurses and cold exam tables." Christopher laughed.

"I'll let you get back to her then, I'll see you later."

"Bye dad," she said as they hung up. "Okay, I'm back."

"New boy friend?"

"Dad's in town. He'll be coming over with us too," she said as she finally stood up from her desk and headed to the kitchen for a snack. "I mean, after all the stuff Grandma said, I expected to have to ask her to come and see you two," she said, switching back to their original conversation.

"She has plans," Lorelai as she tried to deduce what they might be. "She sees some opportunity that we don't. It will all become clear in time and we'll probably regret it. How much did you tell her?"

"Name, weight, length. Why?"

"Birth announcement, most likely an embarrassingly large one," she shook her head a little at the thought. "Oh, my butch friend is back," she muttered into the phone. "It may have been 15 years since I last did this, but I haven't forgotten everything. Oh well, see you when you get here,"

"See ya," Rory said as they both hung up. Rory quickly dialled the phone again. "Hello Mrs. Kim? It's Rory. May I please speak with Lane?"

"Okay, you have the best sense of timing in the world. I mean, if I had to be in the kitchen with the sprouted wheat for one more minutes, I was going to sprout," Lane said quickly as soon as she was out of ear shot of her mother.

"Guess where I was last night," she said with a smile.

"You and Dean are back together?"

"Lane. . . "

"No idea then. Spill!"

"The hospital!"

"Oh my God! Really?" the two girls took a moment to squeal in joy together. "Boy? Girl?"

"A girl!" she said as she quickly rattled off all the information again. "She's gorgeous! Lots a hair, blue eyes. . . Mom says she looks just like I did."

"Wow, are you sure your dad had anything to do with either of you? I mean, I've seen your dad, be it briefly, but you don't really look like him." Rory laughed.

"I'm told we have a similar left earlobe," was about all she could provide. "I'm heading back up to Hartford this afternoon, I promise millions of pictures," Rory assured her.

"You better!"

"You know, I get the feeling that your mom is going to hate me even more."

"I've told you, she doesn't hate you, it's the whole unwed mother thing."

"Well, hate my mother more then," she amended.

"Such is life with Mama Kim," Lane said with a sigh. "Ah, gotta run. Sprouted wheat waits for no girl," she said. The girls quickly said their good byes and Lane went back to her sprouted wheat with an extra spring in her step.

* * *

The rest of the morning passed quickly for Rory. She had gotten a half decent start on her extra credit work and had had time to stop in at Luke's for coffee and a muffin before climbing back into the jeep and heading to Hartford.

When she did finally arrive, she barely had time to greet her father and grandfather before Emily rushed her away to pass judgement on the outfit Emily had picked out. Rory tried to smile and praise the little pink dress her grandmother had picked out, but she was having trouble seeing past all the ribbons and bows. "Is that crinoline?" Rory blurted out, unable to control herself.

"Of course," Emily said, slightly surprised that Rory would expect anything less. Rory's eye brows simply shot up higher on her forehead as she continued to consider the garment in front of her. "Can you believe the sales woman actually tried to sell me a cotton dress, a cotton sundress?"

"Unbelievable," was all Rory could come up with.

"Do you think your mother will like it?"

"She'll enjoy it," Rory said, choosing her words carefully. Her mother would enjoy it. . . She'd enjoy mocking it when Emily wasn't there.

"Wonderful!" Emily exclaimed as she carefully wrapped the tiny dress back up an had Rory help with the bow. "Well, lets get going then," she said as she handed Rory the box and ushered her back down stairs.

"Did she show you . . .?" Rory asked her father as she gestured to the box.

"Oh yeah," he said with a nod as they lingered slightly behind Emily and Richard. "I was at a loss for words."

"All I could say was 'Is that crinoline?' and agree with her."

"Hopefully your mother will hold it together until they leave," he whispered to her before everyone piled into Richard's car.

* * *

"Oh. My. God," was all Lorelai said before she burst out laughing at the dress Emily had brought. She had, in fact, managed to stay quiet and thank her mother, bursting out only after the Elder Gilmore's had left. "Crinoline? And petty coats. Oh Emily Gilmore, you have out done yourself this time!" Rory and Lorelai snickered over the little pink dress as Christopher stared into the bassinet that contained his new daughter.

"Need instructions?" Lorelai called to him, finally taking a break from her mocking.

"I don't want to wake her up," he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You won't, go a head," she said. "Oh wow, it stands up by itself!" she said as she and Rory fluffed out all the layers and watched as the dress held itself up. The girls snickered as Christopher finally gave in and scooped Charlie up, however awkwardly. "Hey Rory, why don't you go scam us some snacks?" Lorelai asked as she pointed to the drawer with her purse in it. "I should have some change." Rory nodded, grabbed the change and headed towards the vending machines.

"She's pretty," he said as he wandered over to her.

"She's perfect," Lorelai corrected him. She smiled sadly as she remembered having this exact same conversation when Rory was born.

"Marry me," he said as he came right over to the bed. "I don't want to miss it this time. I want first steps and first words and first smiles. Marry me, Lor, and we'll raise Charlie and Rory right."

"Oh Chris," was all she could say, shaking her head. "That's no reason to get married and we both know it. All you have to do is come visit more than every 6 months and you'll get to see all of that."

"I love you Lorelai, I always have," he said as he sat on the edge of her bed. "I love Rory and I love her already."

"That's all well and fine, but what about 6 months from now? 6 weeks?" she asked, trying not to get upset, but failing. "What happens when your company goes under, or you can't take being tied down any more?"

"It's not gonna happen this time!" he insisted.

"But it always does," she said, starting to cry. "No matter how many promises there are, how much you love me and Rory, it always falls through. A second chance isn't going to change this, isn't going to change us," she said.

"But it could if you let it!" he insisted as he shifted closer to her on the bed. "I was an idiot to pack up and leave in September and I knew it as soon as I hit the highway but I couldn't come back. But I'm here now, for good!"

"How's your company doing Chris?" He hesitated. "I see," she said as she looked away from him to stare out the window, trying to collect her thoughts.

"It's not as great as I said it was, but it's there. It's new and so it's struggling a little, but things will pick up," he assured her.

"And if they don't? You can't support a family on hopes and dreams Chris. It's not going to put Rory through Chilton or pay my mortgage or keep Charlie in diapers."

"Then I'll find work, Lor! I'll commute to Hartford, New York if I have to! God, what do I have to do to prove I mean it this time?"

"Just that, prove it," she said as they looked each other in the eye. "Be a grown up for a while, Chris. Be a grown up with a real job and responsibilities that mom and dad don't bail you out of. Come visit your kids and call them once a while. Then we'll talk." Chris opened his mouth to reply but changed his mind and Lorelai sat back against the pillows and waited for him to collect himself.

"I should go," he muttered after a moment as he handed Charlie over to her mother.

"Chris, no," she called to him, accepting the baby.

"Did you ever think that maybe I'm not the one who's afraid of commitment?" he asked her as he headed for the door.

"Then why are you always the one leaving when things get hard?" she asked him, before he left the room. He hesitated in the door way for a moment.

"I'll say good bye to Rory before I leave. I'll call when I get back to California," he muttered as he finally left the room.

"Damn it," Lorelai said as she watched Christopher stalk out of the room. Everything was happening again, almost exactly as it had happened when Rory was born. Christopher saw this image of a happy little family in his head while Lorelai saw bills, midnight feedings and hard work. "Repeat offender, your dad," she told Charlie, who simply yawned and shifted slightly in her blanket before drifting off again. Lorelai sighed and watched the baby for a while longer, feeling slightly like her 16 year old self had felt the first time. Just as she was really starting to get into her memories, Rory waltzed back into the room, her arms full of snacks. Her face fell when she looked around and didn't see Christopher.

"Did you two have a fight already?" Lorelai nodded.

"Same one as always."

"He asked you to marry him?" Rory asked as she dumped the bags of chips and the chocolate bars on to the bedside table before stretching out next to her mother on the bed.

"The traditional post-partum proposal. Such a romantic your dad," she said as she rolled her eyes, throwing an arm over Rory's shoulders.

"Maybe he meant it this time, I mean, he's been calling regularly and keeping in touch, and he showed up, here, now," Rory grasped at straws and Lorelai let her. "I mean, I bet if you asked him he'd get a real job, like in an office or something and he'd move up here to Stars Hollow," Lorelai finally cut her off.

"Do you think he'd make all these offers if Charlie hadn't come along? Do you think he'd be up here professing undying love and a want to support us?"

"No," Rory finally admitted after a while.

"He's not ready for this, for us. I don't know if he ever will be," she admitted as she passed the baby over to her sister. "It doesn't matter though," she said as she threw an arm over Rory's shoulders again, now that she had the baby. "All we really need is each other."

"And Luke."

"And Luke," Lorelai agreed. They both knew they'd starve or die of exposure if something ever happened to Luke.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks, as always to the great Ky for all the hand holding and hours of quibbling over semantics. Also, thanks for making me cut what needs to be cut, even when I don't want to. Love ya kid!

* * *

The next afternoon, Lorelai was restlessly shuffling around her room, gathering her things as she waited for Rory to come. She had been promised that she could take Charlie home today and she was more than ready to do just that. She was ready to crawl into her own bed and hang around in her own shower with Charlie asleep in her room while Rory buzzed around down stairs.

"I know, I know, it's time," Lorelai muttered to Charlie when she started to cry, snapping her mother out of her thoughts. She quickly changed the baby before settling on the bed to nurse. While she had nursed Rory simply to spite her mother, she was determined to try and enjoy things this time around. It was also a hell of a lot easier and cheaper than dealing with formula.

"Aw jeez. . ." Lorelai popped her head up and glanced in the direction of the door. She only knew one person who ever made an exclamation like that.

"Luke?"

"Yeah, it's me," he said from the hall. "I, uh, I probably should have called instead of just showing up."

"It's okay, you can come in," she assured him.

"No, I can't," he assured her. "You're all . . .out there," he finally said. Lorelai laughed as she imagined him turning red underneath that blue baseball cap and staring up at the ceiling like it would help him forget what he had just seen.

"I'm nursing Luke, that's what happens when you have a baby," she replied when she finally stopped laughing. Luke grumbled something for the hall. "Go grab a tea or something. By the time you get back, we'll be decent."

"Right. Tea. You want anything?" he called.

"Coffee, half and half, if you must," she called. He grumbled again, something about another caffeine addict, and headed off down the hall, towards the cafeteria. Lorelai, mean while, turned her attention back to Charlie and snickered a little more about the whole situation. "You and me kid, we are gonna have some fun with that man when we get home." Charlie simply fluttered her eye lids in response as she continued on with her meal, blissfully unaware of the world.

* * *

Luke took his time as he wandered down to the cafeteria, intent on making sure that Lorelai was done. . . Lactating. . . by the time he got back to her room. Luke passed by the gift shop on his way back to Lorelai's room and he hesitated for a moment as he looked in the window at the gifts for sale. He was pretty sure her room was looking a little barren, at least the portion he saw before he quickly ducked back out had been barren and he had to admit that he was surprised by that. He assumed that Richard and Emily Gilmore as well as all their wealthy friends would have showered gifts upon Lorelai, Charlie and Rory.

"Can I help you?"

"Uhh . . " was all Luke got out as he figured out that the woman behind the counter was talking to him. He hadn't even really been aware that he had wandered in. "Uh, yeah. A friend of mine, she just had a baby."

"Oh! Congratulations!" she said happily. "Girl or boy?"

"A girl," he said as he set the coffee and his tea down on the glass counter. "Charlie, Charlotte. . . They call her Charlie."

"Just darling," she said as she came out from behind the counter and headed over to the flowers. "Flowers are always popular," she said, pointing out a few choice bouquets. "Balloons as well." Luke glanced at the large, foil balloons all of which were a variation of 'It's a boy!' or 'It's a girl!'. "Or, if you're looking for something more personal?" she asked as she gestured to a row of plush toys, baby books and little kits for immortalizing your newborn's hand and foot prints in clay.

"I, ah, I think I'll just look around for a minute."

"Take your time Sweetheart," she said with one last smile before she headed back to the counter. Luke was about to say something about the drinks he had left here, but by the time he had turned to her, she had already tucked them safely by the register. He had a feeling that he was probably going to end up getting a balloon. Balloons were good gifts, not too personal in a situation like this. Then again, that little pig and spider were pretty cute and he had heard Rory talking about how she had chosen Charlotte after reading _Charlotte's Web_. . . He grabbed the plush pig and spider and headed up to the register. "Adorable, aren't they?" the woman asked. Luke read her name tag finally. Margie was happy to help him and he could tell.

"Her sister named her after reading _Charlotte's Web_," he said, searching for something to say.

"I bet she's excited to be a big sister. How old?"

"Uh, 16." The conversation died for a moment as Luke fumbled for change.

"One last touch," Margie said as she quickly cut a length of pink satin ribbon and another of blue. She quickly tied the blue around the pig and the pink around the spider. "Wilbur and Charlotte are ready to go," she said with a smile as she put the toys in a bag and handed Luke his receipt and change. "Don't forget the coffee," she reminded him, putting the cups in front of him.

"She'd never let me live it down," he commented with a smile as he gathered them up to and headed back up to Lorelai's room.

* * *

"You two are decent this time, right?" he called before coming in.

"Fed and clean," she assured him with a smile.

"Half and half," he told her as he handed her cup over. "Oh yeah, for Charlie and Rory," he said, dropping the small gift bag in front of her.

"Ooh!" she said as she put her cup on the bed side table. "Here," Lorelai said as she tossed a blanket over Luke's shoulder before handing him the baby. He quickly shot his arms out, unprepared for the hand off. She snickered at him and didn't let go until she was sure he had the baby securely. "Oh Luke, you old softy," she said as she pulled the toys out. "Charlotte and Wilbur?" she asked. He blushed a little and nodded as he quickly focused his attention on Charlie. She was certainly prettier to look at today, as far as Luke was concerned. She was no longer an angry red colour, instead she was all peaches and cream like Rory.

"Red hair?" he asked after Charlie inadvertently knocked her hat off.

"Yep," Lorelai as she dove into the coffee. "Rory started out that way too, a little lighter though. It darkened when she was about 3. I was almost sad to see it go."

"Quite the grip," he said as the baby got a hold of one of his fingers. Both he and Lorelai sat quietly for a moment, marvelling at how tiny her entire hand was compared to one of his fingers. As Luke continued to get lost in the little person in his arms, Lorelai sat back and marvelled slightly at the fact that, despite all his protests about small children, Luke seemed to be taking to Charlie like a fish took to water.

"Who's looking after the diner?" she asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Caesar," he said, not really looking up from the little girl in his arms.

"Do you take back everything you ever said about babies?" she asked him, hiding her smile behind her coffee cup.

"No. But I think I might make an exception with her." Lorelai snickered again at this proclamation. "Where's Rory? And Christopher?" he asked after a moment.

"Rory headed home to spend some time with Lane and Christopher. . . Christopher offered his traditional post-partum proposal and then took off in a huff when I said no. I would imagine he's somewhere between his hotel and the airport."

"I thought you said he was staying for a couple of weeks."

"Yeah well, when the going gets tough, Christopher gets going," she said with a casual shrug. "He'll call in a couple of days, after he gets home and he feel secure again. This whole pregnancy has been one big flash of déjà vu," she commented. "I mean, she's the product of one night with Christopher, 16 years after Rory, my parents are pissed as hell but hiding it, rather poorly, and Daddy Dearest is no where to be seen as soon as I turned him down."

"At least this time you're not 16."

"I suppose that's something," she agreed. "Hey, I'm outta here by 5," she said, changing the subject.

"Really?" Luke asked, shocked that they were letting her go home after only 2 night.

"Well, I could have gone home yesterday, but Charlie's a Gilmore girl and decided to set her own schedule."

"But. . . So soon?"

"It's like riding a bike. She cries I change her, feed her, burp her, rock her and in a couple of hours, we repeat the whole process. Nothing really challenging until she realised that she can move around on her own." After this piece of insight from Lorelai, the pair fell into a comfortable conversation briefly before Maura entered the room again.

"I see your ride is here," the nurse commented as she jotted a few more notes down on the discharge orders.

"Oh I'm not her. . . "

"He is," she said quickly, hoping Luke would play along. To shocked to do anything else, Luke simply sat there as Lorelai and the nurse discussed final orders.

"Well, I'll leave you to get changed and then I'll see you out," she said with a smile as she ducked out of the room.

"What happened to 5 o'clock?" he demanded as Lorelai slowly slid out of bed and grabbed a change of clothes.

"That was the soonest Rory could get here," she said with a shrug as she headed for the bathroom. Luke sat in his chair, Charlie still in his arms, not really sure if he was ready to be the person who was responsible for getting them home. "Just let me dress her and call Rory and we should be ready to go," she said when she came back out and plucked the baby from his arms. He watched, a little surprised, at how quickly she had the baby into a rather complicated looking one piece outfit, while balancing the phone between her shoulder and ear. "Yes Rory, it's here, you dropped it off yesterday. Why, I have no idea, but it's here," she said as she handed the baby back to Luke. "I'm pretty sure they would have taken us on our word about having a car seat. Oh well, it doesn't matter, we'll be home in about an hour. Oh! PS, wait until you see what Luke bought you and your sister. I know, I love saying it too! Okay, bye Sweets," she said, finally hanging up the phone.

"So, we're going?" he asked, handing the baby back over.

"Oh, we have to wait for the ceremonial wheel chair," Lorelai said with a smile as she strapped Charlie in. It took her a minute to figure out, these things had gotten more complicated since she had last used one.

"I'll go pull the truck around," he said, beating a hasty exit when Maura entered the room again. As he tried to calm his nerves, he heard Lorelai's laughter in the distance.

* * *

"See, nothing to it," she assured Luke as they pulled into the driveway of the Crap Shack. "Although, I think you could have driven faster than 15 miles a century the whole way here," she teased him as he put the truck in park and she began unbuckling the herself and the car seat.

"What ever," he grumbled. "We're here and everyone is still alive. Being safe is worth taking a little extra time." She shook her head as he grabbed her bag out of the back of the truck and followed her towards the house.

"Rory! We're home!" Lorelai called as she opened the door. "What's all this?" she asked when she saw the living room, full of gifts, flowers and balloons.

"All day," Rory said as she took the bag from Luke. "People have been dropping things off all day. The fridge and freezer are full of food. Real food! People seem to think we're going to be heating things up," she said, not believing that after all this time, the people of Stars Hollow still thought they didn't cook because they didn't like to, not because they couldn't. "I haven't gotten anything done yet today, by the way."

"Sorry, the next time I give birth, I'll plan it around your finals schedule," she said sarcastically as she set the carrier on the floor and wandered over to examine some of the gifts.

"See that you do Missy!" Rory said with an approving nod before she realized there was someone else in the house. "Oh, hi Luke."

"Hey, so, you're all here, you're safe, I should go and rescue Caesar," he said. "Oh, hey, this is for the two of you," he said, handing Rory the gift bag.

"Oh my God Luke! They're adorable!" Rory exclaimed as she pulled the toys out of the bag. She looked at them for a second before launching herself at Luke to hug him, an action he returned rather awkwardly. "Thanks so much!" she said as she let him go and stepped back.

"No problem," he said with a smile as he straightened his baseball cap. "So, uh, give me a shout if you need anything."

"Will do," Lorelai called with a wave, knee deep in gifts.

"Bye Luke," Rory said as he headed for the door. She watched him go before scooping her sister up and joining her mother. "Dad called," Rory said once she and Charlie were seated on the floor beside Lorelai who was already elbow deep in a bag from Patty.

"Where is he?"

"Still at the hotel."

"Well, I'm impressed already," she muttered as she pulled out a leotard and a little feather boa. The girls snickered. "Already planning on the next great Gilmore dancer I see," Lorelai commented, dropping the things back in the bag and moving on.

"He said he'd call again tonight to talk to you." Lorelai rolled her eyes a little and pulled a Fed-ex box towards her. After a few minutes of tugging at the packaging, Lorelai got the box open.

"Gorgeous!" Lorelai exclaimed as she pulled a crocheted blanket out of the box. It was wild and colourful but still screamed baby girl. "Does it look familiar? I'm sure I've seen this some where before."

"Kind of like my pink one," Rory said. "Check the card," Rory added as she nodded towards the card that had tumbled out with the blanket.

"_For my newest Gilmore Girl,_" Lorelai read. "_Big hugs and kisses and congratulations to everyone, Mia._ Get the phone," she said as she took the baby from Rory and cradled her in her lap. Rory handed the phone and began searching for the address book in case they needed the number. "Mia? It's Lorelai," she said with a smile. Rory quickly sat by her side to listen in on the phone call.

"Hi Mia!" Rory called with a smile and a giggle. The conversation between the three was a casual and friendly one that they all slipped into.

"In the fall? Really?" Lorelai asked near the end of the conversation. "Of course we'll be on the look out!" she assured Mia as she said her good byes, passed the phone to Rory before taking Charlie upstairs.

"I can't believe she's coming to visit. She's been in Santa Barbara for ages!" Rory exclaimed as Lorelai came back down, sans baby.

"It'll be great," Lorelai agreed as she headed over to Rory so they could keep going through the mountain of gifts.

* * *

"Mom, mom no, stop for a minute," Lorelai tried to reason with her mother. 

"Lorelai, she's nearly 2 months old, this should have happened weeks ago!"

"Mom, she doesn't need to be baptised," Lorelai tried to get through to her mother as she folded up laundry on the kitchen table with Charlie sitting near by, content to watch the flashes of colour from the moving laundry while her mother balanced the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Why on earth not? You were baptized."

"Yeah, I had no choice in that."

"You had Rory baptized."

"_You_ had Rory baptized mom," Lorelai pointed out. "You insisted that if I wasn't going to marry Christopher, I should at least do _one_ thing right."

"So do this one thing right again!" Emily pleaded with her as she opened her appointment book. "Reverend O'Malley has 3 Sundays available, one in August and two in September. I think we should book the Sunday in August, that way we can have autumn flowers but the ceremony will take place before she's 3 months old."

"Mom, we don't go to church, not even on Christmas. The last time Rory and I set foot in a church was Old Man Fitzpatrick's funeral."

"It doesn't matter if you go, Lorelai," Emily reasoned as she penciled in the date. "It's just what you do when you have a baby."

"Why?" Lorelai asked as she stopped folding towels. Charlie grew quiet as she waited for Lorelai to start again. She let out a cry when things were still for too long and Lorelai quickly scooped her up and began pacing the kitchen. "Well?" she asked again since her mother hadn't given her an answer.

"You just do, Lorelai," she said firmly. "Do you want her to start asking why Rory was baptised and she wasn't when she's older?"

"If it's that big a deal to her, we'll do it then. Mom, I gotta go, I'm meeting Rory for lunch," she said tightly as she left the kitchen and headed to the living room, gathering up various items of baby paraphernalia as she went.

"Lorelai, this conversation is not over yet!"

"Charlie and Rory send their love, bye mom," Lorelai said with a smile as she hit the 'end' button on the phone and tossed it onto another pile of laundry that had taken up residence on the couch. "Your grandmother," she said to Charlie as she held her up to look her in the eye. "Is even more work than you," she assured the infant with a smile. Charlie returned it with a small, crooked one of her own. "Come on," she said as she rested her against her shoulder. "You have lunch now and then we'll go meet Rory," she said as she headed upstairs to make herself comfortable.

* * *

"You're late," Rory commented when Lorelai and Charlie finally arrived at the diner. Lorelai had a fairly decent reason for being late, aside from the phone call from Emily. Even after 2 months, people would still stop Lorelai when ever she took the baby out so they could ooh and ahh over her. She had stood just behind the front door for a very long moment as she contemplated her options. She could drive to Luke's and avoid the crowds, but suffer through a lecture from Luke about unnecessary driving and pollution. She could also walk there, either with the stroller or Charlie in the carrier. She nixed the carrier right away. How anyone got into that thing by themselves was a mystery to her. Just as she had been about to battle the stroller, she caught sight of the sling Babette and Morey had sent over. She tossed it over her shoulder and tucked Charlie into it and headed towards town.

"Your grandmother, is driving me up the freakin' wall!" Lorelai announced to Rory when she met up with her in Luke's. "You deal with her the next time she calls," she tossed Rory her cell phone as she sat down at the table cradling Charlie, still in the sling, in her lap.

"What does she want?" Rory asked as she pocketed the cell phone.

"Charlie baptized 3 weeks ago," Lorelai said. "This is not coffee," she pointed to the glass of milk in front of her.

"That or a fruit bowl," Luke said as he came over, peaking in at the sleeping baby. The Gilmore Girls snickered at him. "I mean it,"

"Sure, sure," she said casually before she and Rory both ordered a Friday night special (cheese burgers, extra cheese, double order of fries with an extra large coffee).

"You had one of those on Friday. It's only Sunday how can you need another one?" he asked, pencil paused above his pad.

"My mother knows how to dial a phone," Lorelai said, glancing up at him.

"Ah," was all he said as he quickly turned and headed towards the kitchen.

"Why baptized? We don't go to church," Rory pointed out.

"Doesn't matter, it's _what you do_," Lorelai insisted. Rory shook her head, unsure of what else to say. "I was baptized, she made me baptize you and hell will freeze over before Charlie gets away from this fate."

"We could just run away and hope she forgets about it," she finally suggested.

"We could," Lorelai agreed as he mind raced with possibilities.

"I was kidding mom," Rory said quickly as Luke brought their food out.

"Kidding about what?" Luke asked. Rory and Lorelai looked at each other. "Never mind, probably best I don't know," he said quickly retreating from the table.

"A road trip would be perfect!" Lorelai said. "Get your mind off of Lane being stuck in Korea and we could get away from my mother. . . It'll be great! Eat up! We'll go home and pack so we can just take off in the morning."

"And go where?"

"Doesn't really matter. We'll just start driving and see where we end up."

"What about Friday night dinner?" Rory asked. Lorelai paused for a moment as she thought up an excuse.

"That why we leave on Monday," she said with a smile. "We can be gone until Thursday."

"This has the potential to end _very_ badly," Rory said calmly, shaking her head.

"It also has the potential to end _very_ well," Lorelai said with a smile before digging into her burger.

* * *

"I can't believe we forgot to bring the tunes," Lorelai grumbled as they drove along the highway. The jeep was packed as full a it could be and still leave room for Charlie in the back seat.

"Do you realize that neither of us has the vaguest idea where we are?" Rory asked as she craned her neck around, looking out all the windows trying to figure out which way they were going.

"What is a road trip without tunes?" Lorelai asked, ignoring Rory's complaints. "I've never been in this car for any extended period of time without playing AC/DC. This is a prime opportunity to begin your sisters musical education and we're missing it!" she lamented, banging her hand on the steering wheel to emphasise her point.

"I have no idea which way the sun is going," Rory complained as she tried to track it through the windows.

"I need my _Highway to Hell_."

"It's right out the windshield there," Rory gestured helpfully. Lorelai continued ignoring Rory, moaning about the lack of suitable music on the radio while Rory continued to be the annoying voice of reason in the Jeep.

"The point of this is to be spontaneous. To drive and land someplace we've never been and never expected to be."

"Sounds risky."

"Sounds exciting," Lorelai corrected with a smile.

"Serendipity has never been kind to us," Rory pointed out.

"She was pretty kind to us with the 10 pound bundle of joy in the back seat."

"So isn't it plausible that we used up all our clout with Serendipity?"

"I talked to her on the phone last night. She feels bad about how she's treated us in the past. We had a nice chat. It's all gonna be different now," Lorelai assured her.

"What did that sign say? It said 'don't' or 'death' on it!"

"Relax," Lorelai said calmly.

"We're doomed!" Rory said, over dramatically.

"Wrong. We're being guided by fate," Lorelai said optimistically.

"I think we're lost."

"We can't be lost," Lorelai reasoned calmly. "We don't know where we're going," she finished with a snicker as they continued down the road.

* * *

They stopped for a break some time later because Haden's Nut House was just too much to resist and Charlie was tired of being ignored.

"I'll drive," Rory volunteered.

"No way," Lorelai said. "You'll go the speed limit and slow down to read every road sign along the way. Then, you'll pull over at a gas station and ask for directions. I do the driving," she insisted as they all piled back into the car.

"Fine," Rory said as she climbed in and quickly pulled a map out of the glove box. "But this plan means we're going to be stopping every couple of hours."

"That better not be a map," Lorelai chided from the back seat. "We'd be stopping every few hours anyways," she reasoned.

"It's gonna be dark in a couple of hours and, I think I speak for Charlie and myself when I say we don't want to sleep in the car."

"What does she care? She's slept most of the drive already."

"Now, to the best of my map reading abilities, we're headed towards Portsmouth, New Hampshire," she said, tracing a route with her finger.

"Portsmouth. Huh," Lorelai said as she finally climbed into the drivers seat. "A friend of mine opened a B&B up there." After some arguing over the lameness of the B&B, Lorelai finally convinced Rory to go for it, though she still insisted on calling first. "Sense of adventure. . . " Lorelai reminded her, casting a glance over at Rory.

"Let's go," she said with a resigned sigh.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

My thanks to the 5 or 6 people out of the 22 who have this on story alert for reviewing:)To those who don't review, what's your excuse?

* * *

Donald most definitely did not own the B&B any more. That much was clear as soon as they set foot in side. Pastels and flowers immediately assaulted them and Charlie summed up the feeling nicely when she began to fuss.

"You said it sister," Rory muttered to her sister as she began to bounce her a little while Lorelai got a room. Lorelai tried to talk Rory into getting back onto the road and trying again but Charlie quickly put that idea out of their heads as she made it clear she would not be ignore or jostled off to sleep again.

Rory and Lorelai's eye brows shot up their foreheads when they saw the room they would be staying in. Large, pink flowers were everywhere. They were on the wall paper, the bedspread, the shower curtain . . . Everywhere. As LaDonn went on and on about what B&Bers like, Rory and Lorelai exchanged glances.

"Okay, I think we just found the first room in the history of _the world_ that would've made Liberace say 'Whoa. Step back. No one's that gay'," Lorelai said, almost in disbelief, after LaDonn had left.

"Oh, look. This is a book that past guests have written in," Rory commented as she passed Charlie to Lorelai and headed over to the large guest book that was across from the bed.

"Mmm," Lorelai said distractedly as she finally settled Charlie enough to feed her.

"_This room made my soul soar_," she read.

"Ugh," they both commented. Rory closed the book and put it back on the little table before she began to unpack a few items.

"So, where are we stashing her for the night?"

"You mean you're not up for co-bedding?" she asked casually.

"I'll crush her!" Rory exclaimed. "I'll roll over in the night and squish her!" she began to panic. "Mean!" was all she could say when her mother started to laugh.

"She'll survive a night in the carrier. Or, we could get all crafty and build a little nest on the floor. I stashed some extra blankets in the jeep."

"So, what about dinner for us? I'm starving," Rory said as she sat on the end of the bed, facing her mother.

"Nice lane change," Lorelai commented. "As soon as Her Majesty is done, we'll go looking. I can't believe we ate all those nuts. I mean, we could have been snacking right now instead of starving." Rory shrugged as she played with a lose thread.

"And Luke wonders why we're in the diner so much. . .I think we're gluttons," Rory concluded.

"But we're so cute. Does that count for anything?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh well, as long as the suite in hell is pretty," Lorelai concluded. Rory chuckled and shook her head as she crawled up to the head of the bed and sat beside her mother, the pair chatting about nothing until they could continue on their way.

Disaster fell upon the trio once again. As they tried to make their escape to go find grown up food, they discovered the dentists partaking in cocktail hour.

"Are you hungry enough to answer a hundred probing but only slightly differentiated from each other questions about Chilton, life in a small town and your extremely adorable sister?" Rory hesitated.

"I'm willing to sacrifice her for the benefit of the group."

"Rory!" Lorelai admonished in a loud whisper. "It is tempting though, isn't it?"

"Take out?" she suggested in a last ditch effort.

"Seriously?"

"Mom, I'm _starving_!" Rory said again, really emphasizing the starving part.

"And, since you're single, you know at last one of them will know of a boy your age who's living somewhere near Stars Hollow," Lorelai said. Rory considered this for a moment longer before dashing back up the stairs. Lorelai smiled a little before she followed.

* * *

The next morning, after more assurances that they flowers on the walls weren't growing or reproducing. ("They must be doing something. Your sister won't stop staring at them!" Lorelai insisted.) Rory finally got Lorelai out of the room with the promise of breakfast and a window in the B&B's schedule.

"Oh no!" they both muttered as they were caught by the guests there were all crowded around the window, watching a humming bird.

"A taste wouldn't be bad," they both finally agreed when the talk of scones came about. But when some of the guests started to try and talk to them, Lorelai beat a hasty exit, leaving Rory and Charlie to fend for themselves.

"Mom, you promised not to do any business while on vacation," Rory pointed out sweetly.

"Honey, publishing waits for no man. Gotta keep the presses pressing," she said as she handed Charlie to Rory and then beat a hasty retreat to the stairs to call Sookie and relate their adventures to her.

"And you just abandoned them? Some mother you are," Sookie pointed out.

"Hey, Charlie will save Rory. They'll ask her for some polite details and then they'll start to play pass the baby and we all know how much she loves that game." The pair chatted for a while longer before Luke interrupted. "You're talking on a cell phone. You know that, right?" Lorelai pointed out.

"You could have warned me you were taking off," Luke complained as he leaned against the counter, talking on the cell phone.

"You didn't want to hear about it yesterday. Why does it matter anyway?" she asked, not really understanding where he was coming from with this.

"It does matter," he said, slightly louder than he meant to. Several customers stopped to stare at him for a moment before he glared at them.

"Out side!" Kirk called pointing to the _no cell phones _sign.

"Shut up Kirk!" Luke called back to him.

"Why? Why does what I do with my kids matter to you?" she asked him, starting to get irritated.

"Because!" he said quickly. "Did you tell anyone you took off?"

"No, Luke. I packed my kids up into my slightly unreliable jeep and just took off," she said sarcastically. "Of course I told some one, I told Michel and then I told Sookie because the chances that Michel paid attention are pretty slim."

"What do you mean slightly unreliable jeep? Why the hell would you pack up your kids and take off in a slightly unreliable jeep?"

"Luke! It's fine, everything is fine!" she said, working hard to keep her voice down because of all the crazy B&Bers in the next room.

"Fine, whatever," he said gruffly, reigning himself in. "I should run. Customers."

"Yeah, customers. Bye Luke," she said dejectedly as she hung up the call phone. Lorelai looked at her phone for a moment, trying to figure out what Luke's major issue was before she shoved it back into her purse and went to rescue Rory and Charlie.

"You have such beautiful daughters," the woman sitting at the table exclaimed to Lorelai as she accepted Charlie from her husband. Lorelai smiled politely as she came to stand behind Rory's chair. She reached over her and plucked the remaining scone off of the plate to the right of Rory's arm.

"And this little charmer. . . Your husband is going to have to beat them off with a stick!" the man exclaimed with a wide smile as he went back to putting berries in the sun baked scones that were resting on a baking tray in front of him.

"Isn't he just?" Lorelai asked with a fake looking smile that the couple didn't pick up on as she headed to the other side of the table. "I hate to break this up, but I'm gonna have to drag them away now," she said as Charlie was handed over.

"Aww shucks. It was so nice talking to you," Rory said, practically jumping over her chair to get away from them and not stopping until she was safely in the foyer.

"Lovely talking to you dear!" the woman called after Rory while she ran a hand down Charlie's back one last time before Lorelai escaped to join her eldest.

"We now have abandonment issues," Rory said to Lorelai, scowling slightly and crossing her arms over her chest..

"I don't know, she seemed to have been enjoying herself," Lorelai shrugged as they came to a stop by the door. "Well, come on, pull out that map you're hiding," she said.

"I'm not hiding a map," she said innocently. Lorelai just stared at her as she juggled Charlie until she was facing forward, mesmerized by the floral wallpaper again. "Well, I didn't want to drive around aimlessly again today," she said as she finally pulled it out from behind her back where she had tucked it into her jeans.

"So, what's near?"

"Concord, Manchester, Salem."

"Oooh! Witches and stonings!" Lorelai said excitedly as she came to stand slightly behind Rory so she could see the map too.

"Boston, Newton, Needham . . ." she continued to read off, using her finger to trace along the main highway.

"Oh! Go back!"

"What? Boston, Newton?"

"I know where we're going," she said as a huge smile lit up her face. Lorelai and Rory argued for a moment before she finally relented and started to fold the map up. Lorelai simply reached out a hand and grabbed it, crumpling it up.

"You're folding it wrong!" Rory cried, like it physically hurt her to see the mad folded like that.

"Is it smaller?"

"Yes," she said sadly.

"Then it's not wrong. Let's go," she said as she started to head for the door. "I will get you a new one when we get there," she promised in order to get Rory moving.

* * *

The ride up to Boston was a pleasant one. Since they were closer to a city, the tunes on the radio were half decent and the drive wasn't too hot. Rory pointed out various landmarks as they drove around the city before Lorelai pulled into a parking space a few blocks away from their intended destination.

"Come on," Lorelai said after she had parked and they had finagled Charlie into the sling around Lorelai's shoulders. "Short walk," she assured Rory as they started out on their way.

"I don't believe it," Rory said when they finally reached the rather imposing gates of Harvard University. The trio stood a few feet away simply staring at them as various students weaved around them on their way too and from class. "It's big."

"You have a big future," Lorelai confirmed. "Come on, you know you want to," she said as she linked arms with Rory. "All the other kids are doin' it," she joked.

"Harvard," Rory said, the smile nearly splitting her face as they finally headed in.

The little group spent the day wandering around Harvard until they found their way into a building that contained actual lecture theatres and classes. As Lorelai snuck off to the bathroom with the baby, Rory continued to wander around, finding her way into a class.

"Mommy would have been right there," Lorelai whispered to Charlie as she looked at the pictures of past valedictorians and pointed to the picture of the 1990 graduate. Charlie yawned, unimpressed and fussed a little. "Fine, be that way," she muttered as she wandered down the hallway. Just as she was starting to wonder where Rory was, she heard her voice and quickly headed in that direction.

Lorelai hung around in the doorway of the class room, watching Rory actually participate in the lecture and she felt a pang of longing and regret that she had never had that opportunity. She allowed herself to wallow in that thought a while longer as she listened to the lecture before catching Rory's attention.

"Thanks," she tapped the shoulder of the guy in front of her. "That was fun," she said with a big smile as she quickly got out of her chair and joined her mother. "Did you see me?" she asked eagerly. Lorelai smiled, she sounded just like she did when she was little.

"Yes."

"I was in college."

"It was amazing!" Lorelai assured her excitedly as they wandered out of the building. Rory continued to prattle on about how she loved college and Harvard and fatalism and all Lorelai could really do was smile and nod at her daughters enthusiasm while she allowed herself a rare moment to wallow in the 'what could have been'.

* * *

"How could you just pack up and leave like that?" Emily demanded when they stepped into the house for Friday night dinner. The three of them had gotten home the night before and had stayed up far to late discussing Harvard and what Friday dinner would hold.

"It was actually pretty easy mom," Lorelai said as they were ushered into the living room for drinks.

"And this poor little girl," Emily said dramatically as she freed a perfectly content Charlie from the carrier. "All that disruption to her schedule, she must have been miserable."

"Actually, she really seemed to enjoy the car ride grandma," Rory tossed in as she took a seat on the couch.

"Ah, you're here," Richard said as he came out of his study. "Drinks?" he asked as he headed over to the cart. Lorelai and Rory both asked for water and Richard obliged with a scotch for himself and a martini for Emily.

"Now Rory, tell us all about Harvard," Emily said, holding Charlie in one arm and accepting her martini in the other. Lorelai sat back on the couch and crossed her legs, silently listening as Rory spilled out their tale, not missing the disapproving looks Emily was still shooting at her.

"What mom?" Lorelai finally asked. Emily had been shooting looks her way for the past 20 minutes.

"Aside from the fact that you should have hired a guide instead of simply wandering around?" she asked somewhat sarcastically. "You're not getting out of this baptism," she warned. "I've booked the church for next week and I pulled Rory's gown out of storage. I need Charlie to try it on before you leave to see how the fit is." Rory and Lorelai glanced at each other, sure that by going away when they did, Emily wouldn't be able to plan the Christening and thus, it would have just magically gone away. Either that or she'd just be so mad that it wouldn't happen. "10:30 next Sunday Lorelai," Emily said firmly. "You will show up."

"Fine we'll be there," she said with a tight smile. Rory simply folded her hands in her lap and nodded.

"She'll need a sponsor."

"I will find one," Lorelai assured her. The rest of dinner passed relatively painlessly now that Emily was happy.

The trio had escaped dinner unharmed and Lorelai had to admit that Charlie had looked pretty damned adorable in the long while christening gown. The trio had just returned to Stars Hollow and Rory was currently standing outside with Lane, who was back from Korea, gossiping away and she had wandered into Luke's for some coffee and company. Once she had her coffee in hand, she grew silent for a moment.

"Can I ask you a question?" Lorelai asked him as she wandered into the diner, Charlie in tow.

"Yeah," he replied as he stopped cleaning the counter. Lorelai quickly launched into her want to get moving on the Inn with Sookie and could she maybe get together with him some time and pick his brain about running a business? He agreed without hesitation and she thanked him before tossing some cash on the counter. She headed for the door but stopped and wandered back over to the counter.

"What were you worried about?" Lorelai asked after a moment of silence.

"You disappeared off the face of the earth without warning," he told her as he wiped the counter down in front of her.

"We went to Boston, we didn't head to China, Luke," she said, shaking her head slightly.

"Look, it was one thing when you could just pack up Rory and go. Rory could look out for herself on these crazy trips but Charlie. . ."

"What are you saying Luke?" she asked cautiously. "That I'm irresponsible with my kids?"

"You can be," he admitted. Lorelai stood up straight at this.

"What exactly are you getting at?" she asked as she put her coffee cup down on the counter.

"What I'm getting at is that you can't just act like you did before she came along," he hissed at her.

"Thank you Luke. I nearly forgot that. I mean, her being stuck to my boob every couple of hours wasn't reminder enough."

"Ah jeez," he said as she shut his eyes, trying to block out that image. "That's not what I meant."

"Then tell me exactly what you mean because I would _love_ a map to this conversation," she said, choosing her words carefully. What right did this man have to question her ability to raise her kids properly?

"What would Christopher say? What would he say if he knew that you were just packing his kids up to gallivant around the east coast on a spur of the moment whim?"

"Are you seriously bringing him into this? Do you really want to go there?"

"Yeah, I think I am, I think I do want to 'go there'," he said, starting to raise his voice.

"You have some nerve Luke, you know that?" she demanded as she stood up from the stool. They stared at each other for a moment and she felt her anger boil. "You are unbelievable!" she yelled at him as she quickly grabbed Charlie and stalked out of the diner.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer!" Luke growled at the patrons in the diner who all turned back to their plates very quickly as the diner owner stalked off to the store room to cool off.

* * *

Rory knew that something was up the next morning. Her mother wasn't her normal bubbly self and there were no jokes being cracked about Rory's want to be at school early for the first day.

"Okay, you just drove past Luke's," Rory pointed out as Lorelai did just that.

"I know," she said as she parked in front of Westin's Bakery "Coming?" she asked as she got out and pushed her seat forward so she could get into the back to get Charlie out.

"The only reason we ever eat here is when you and Luke fight," Rory pointed out as she climbed out of the jeep as well. "We've barely been home for 3 days, when did you find time to have a fight with Luke?" she demanded as they dashed across the street and into the bakery for coffee and muffins.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said as she handed Rory the baby. "I'll order, find a seat," she said, effectively ending the conversation. Rory shook her head as she sat down, holding Charlie in her lap. The conversation didn't really pick up again when Lorelai came back to the table with the food.

"I can just drop you off this time, right?" Lorelai asked as they headed towards Chilton. "There are no more secret meetings for me to head off to?"

"I don't think there are," she said. "Mom, what did you and Luke fight about?" she finally asked.

"How fit he things I am as a mother."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. It was great," she said as she did a shoulder check before changing lanes. "We somehow went from why he was worried about us to me being an unfit mother in about 30 seconds."

"We're never eating at Luke's again, are we?" Rory asked sadly, having a feeling that she already knew the answer.

"I haven't gotten that far yet Rory," she said before she turned on the radio and they fell into silence. "I'll be here when you're done with the paper," Lorelai said as she came to a stop in front of Chilton.

"You don't have to," Rory said as she slid out of the jeep.

"I'm bored kid. This whole maternity leave thing is over rated when you're Lorelai Gilmore."

"Sure. Bye mom, see ya Charlie," she called into the back seat before closing the door and heading off for another year at Chilton. Instead of heading back home, however, Lorelai headed towards one of the larger malls in Hartford. While the residents of the Hollow had been more than a little over zealous in their showering of gifts, very few people had showered her with anything Charlie would have to grow into and Emily Gilmore was starting to not so subtly hint that summer dresses would not be appropriate for the fall, even if they were paired with a cute little sweater, so, a trip to the mall was in order.

* * *

Meanwhile, Luke Danes was busy with his own issues. His kid sister, Liz, had send her kid to him. Jess had started to slip from being a petty vandal to a petty thug and, either Liz didn't want to or didn't know how to deal with him, so she packed him off on a bus to Luke so he could straighten him out.

Just as the bus pulled up to the curb, Luke looked up to see a rather familiar jeep come to a stop a few feet away. He glanced up and he and Lorelai locked eyes for a moment. He hadn't meant to start a fight with her the other night, he had just been concerned. He had sort of meant what he said. Rory could take care of herself while they were out gallivanting but Charlie. . . If anything happened to Lorelai or Rory and no one knew where they were. . . It could be bad. As she pulled away, he gave his head a shake and turned his attention to the passengers that were getting off the bus.

"Jess," he said simply to the dark haired teenager that came to a stop in front of him.

"Luke," was the reply.

"Okay, so, uh. . . " he gestured towards the diner and stated to head in that direction, Jess trailing behind him as he took in the small town he had been banished too. "Well, this is my diner," he said as he showed Jess in.

"Huh," was the only reply as he looked around.

"Belonged to your Grandpa."

"Huh."

"Yup." _Oh yeah_, thought Luke. _This is going to go great. . . _ Luke led him upstairs and showed him around. Jess made a few wise cracks before grabbing a book out of his bag and taking off, promising to come back at 10. "I so don't wanna know why," Luke muttered when Jess announced that he didn't need keys to get back into the apartment.

* * *

As Lorelai was finally driving back into Stars Hollow, she was shocked to see Luke sitting at the bus stop. She took a moment to wonder about what exactly he was doing there before she quickly tore her eyes away from him and focused on the road ahead. She and Luke locked eyes for a moment before she quickly looked away and continued on her way.

"Change of plans Baby Girl," Lorelai muttered as she took a left instead of a right. "Let's go see Auntie Sookie, before mommy explodes rage all over the house." Charlie simply continued to coo contentedly in her seat. She had discovered her voice last month and was working on vowel sounds this month.

"You're not supposed to be back yet," Michel said as soon as he saw her and Charlie walk into the Inn.

"Hi Michel, I've missed you too," she commented with a smile as she stopped at the front desk. Michel cast a critical eye over Charlie as Lorelai sat her on the front desk. "Any mail waiting for me?" she asked.

"Would you like a coaster?" he asked calmly as he retrieved a stack of letters. There was nothing terribly important in them, anything like that had already been passed on to who ever was covering while she was out on maternity leave.

"I need a drink before I need a coaster, Michel," she said with a cheeky little smile, knowing very well what he was talking about. Michel and Charlie stared at each other for a moment longer until he made a face and turned away. Charlie let out a small laugh and Lorelai couldn't help but smile, Charlie wasn't just a little bundle any more, she was a whole ¼ year old 5 days ago. "Sookie's in the kitchen?"

"I assume," he said, still not turning around.

"I've missed you Michel," she said as she picked Charlie up off the desk.

"Yes, yes," he said as he turned around finally, a rag and a spray can of Pledge in his hands. Lorelai shook her head as she headed off to the kitchen and Michel began to give the desk a thorough cleaning.

"Sookie!" she called joyfully as she wandered into the kitchen. Charlie quickly began glancing around and moving her head as much as she could to take in all the new activity that was buzzing around her.

"Honey!" Sookie cried in return, nearly knocking a large sauté pan off of the stove in her haste to greet them. "You two should be at home," she admonished as she made faces at Charlie for giggled in return. "That's new," she remarked.

"Figured it out a couple of days ago," she said proudly. "Right about the same time she discovered her hands."

"So what are you two smarties doing here?" she asked with a smile as she wiped her hands on the towel she kept tucked in to her apron tie.

"We got bored," she said simply with a shrug. "TV is all still repeats, Rory went back to school today. . . I need to come back to work," she moaned. Sookie smiled and shook her head as she headed over to the coffee maker and poured a cup for Lorelai who had seated herself at the little desk by the wall. "What are you up to?" she asked as she accepted the cup, taking a sip before putting it arms length away.

"Oh, you know, this and that," she said with a shrug. Lorelai waited for a moment and was rewarded as Sookie began to gush about all the new food she was working on for the fall menu. "Comfort food with a twist!" Sookie said excitedly. "Like mashed potatoes with crème fresh instead of sour cream and beef stew with a south-western kick!"

"Sounds great," Lorelai assured her as she pushed away from the table to keep Charlie from kicking it.

"Why aren't you wasting the day at Luke's?" Sookie finally asked as she returned to the counter in the middle of the kitchen to break down some veggies.

"We had a fight," she admitted after a moment. She quickly told Sookie the whole story. It wasn't lost on Sookie that Lorelai concentrated on playing with Charlie's feet while telling the story.

"He means well," she said, defending the diner owner.

"Sookie!"

"He does. You know Luke. He knows what he wants to say but when it comes out. . . This happens A LOT when you're involved. He has a thing for you."

"Luke Danes does not have a thing for me," Lorelai insisted quickly as she looked away from Charlie.

"Oh please," Sookie said as she waved her knife around in the air. "The man dotes on both you and Rory and now Charlie. I mean, he doesn't give any one else he knows 5 hours of free labour on their birthday."

"He's my friend Sookie. He does those things because he's my friend."

"He's my friend too but I don't see him over at my house fixing my porch railing or those loosing shingles on my roof." Lorelai sat back in her chair and considered this for a moment.

"He's just a friend Sookie. He knows I need help with this stuff and he does it. In return, I single handedly keep a good chunk of his bills at the diner paid."

"If you say so," Sookie sighed as she went back to her veggies and Lorelai turned her attention back to her cup of coffee.

"I say so," Lorelai confirmed as she turned her attention back to her coffee and her baby.

"Well come on then, if you're going to be that way," Lorelai muttered as she wrangled the crying baby out of the back seat. They had spent the better part of the day at the Independence Inn with Sookie before heading home for a nap and a snack and now they were back at Chilton, waiting for Rory to finish with the newspaper. Charlie blinked at the bright sun before settling, content now to be in her mothers arms as the waited.

"Well, if it isn't Lorelai Gilmore."

"Max Medina," she said casually as she looked over her shoulder. Charlie took a moment to take the stranger in before turning her attention back to her hands which had gotten caught on Lorelai's necklace. Lorelai and Max studied each other for a moment.

"Is it safe to assume that this was your personal issue?" he asked as he stepped slightly closer, gesturing slightly at Charlie.

"It is," she said as she unclenched Charlie's hands from the necklace.

"Are you going to introduce us?" he asked as he offered the baby a hand.

"This is Charlotte, Charlie," she clarified with a nervous smile.

"She seems smart," he said seriously. "I can see it in her eyes." Lorelai chuckled despite herself. "My offer still stands," he said casually as Charlie finally got a hold of a finger. Lorelai was more then a little surprised to hear this.

"Wow. Out of everything I had imagined coming out of your mouth, that was definitely not one of the possibilities." He chuckled for a moment before turning his attention from the baby to her.

"So, what do you say? I was thinking something simple. . . Dinner and a movie maybe?"

"I don't know. . . " she said, trying to find a real excuse as to why this would be a bad idea.

"Or maybe just coffee, if that's better for you."

"Coffee," she said again.

"Coffee. Hot beverage, bitter taste, black colour. . ." he said with a smile. Lorelai finally shook her head and sighed.

"I have a class."

"A class?"

"A business class, in Hartford a couple of days a week. I might be found in a coffee shop across from Hartford State, around 4:10 on Thursday," she said as she looked everywhere but at him.

"I see and if, perhaps, we were to run into each other there?"

"It might be okay," she said.

"Well then, maybe I'll see you there," he said with a knowing smile as she put his hands in the pockets of his pants.

"Maybe," she agreed with a small smile. Max said his good byes to the two Gilmore Girls and headed on his way.

"Mom!" Rory called as she jogged out of the school. "Remind me again why I want to be a journalist?"

"What happened?" she asked as she pulled Rory in for a hug with her free arm.

"Paris happened," she said with a sigh. "How was your day?"

"Um, how would you feel if I went out with Mr. Medina?" she asked as they headed for the jeep.

"What?" was all Rory could get out when she heard this.

"Uh, yeah," she said as she busied herself with getting Charlie in her car seat. Charlie, on the other hand was not pleased with this development and fought it as best she could, finally calming down when Lorelai popped a pacifier into her mouth. "He kind of asked me out last year."

"Last year," Rory said as she got into the car.

"At the bake sale and I turned him down and then today, just before you were released he asked me again and I may have said yes," she said hesitantly as she climbed in as well.

"How do you not know if you've said yes or not?" Rory asked as she hesitated with her seat belt, instead turning in her seat to look at her mother.

"I hinted that I may be at that coffee shop across from college on Thursday and he suggested that he might be in the area. . ."

"Okay, this is wigging me out slightly," she admitted as she sat straight in her seat and put on her seat belt. "I mean, school and home should remain separate, the lines should not blur and you and Mr. Medina. . . That's blurring the lines."

"It's just coffee Rory," she argued as she started the jeep and they headed home.

"For now. What happens when he wants to take you to dinner? Or a movie or he wants to stay over?"

"Can we just try it Rory? If it really wigs you out that much, I'll break it off, okay?" She glanced over at Rory who sighed and stared out the window for a long moment. "Rory? Mommy's working on it, but she can't read minds yet."

"You promise you'll end it if things are weird?"

"I swear."

"Ok, I guess."

"Thanks Rory," she said with a smile as she turned on the radio.

* * *

"Here," Lorelai said as she handed Rory $20. "Go get supper." They had come to a stop out side of Luke's Diner.

"We're not going in?" she asked, undoing her belt.

"No. Cheese burger and fries," Lorelai said. "Go, go," she said, flicking her hands at Rory.

"Mom, you're going to have to get over this thing with Luke."

"We will, just not right now. Go!" she said again as she leaned over and opened the door for Rory. Rory sighed and shook her head as she slid out of the jeep and headed into the diner.

"Hey Luke," Rory said with a smile as she slid onto a stool at the counter and placed her order.

"Hey," he said as he put the order in and then took a long look out the window. Rory followed his gaze.

"What did you two fight about?" she asked.

"Nothing, just a misunderstanding," he told her. "Hey, where have you been?"

"Out," Jess answered as he stalked into the diner. Rory spun around on her stool to see who this new comer was. Jess and Rory took each other in for a moment before he continued on his way upstairs.

"That would be Jess, my nephew."

"Nephew?" she asked.

"My kid sister, Liz's kid. I mentioned her that night at the hospital?" he asked her. He shook his head a little before he spilled out the story to her before he started to package the food up.

"How long is he staying?"

"Who knows," Luke said ruefully as he tallied the order. "Hey Rory? Tell your mom I'm sorry," he said as he pushed two cups of coffee, on the house, across the counter to her.

"Sure," she said with a smile as she grabbed the bags and the tray with the coffee in it and headed to the car. "Did you know Luke has a sister?" she asked as she climbed back into the car.

"No. Why?"

"She sent her kid, Jess, to stay with Luke."

"Really," she said, considering this tidbit as she took a pull from the coffee cup.

"That's apology coffee from Luke," Rory said as she grabbed her cup.

"His nephew?" she asked as she pulled away from the curb.

"Yeah. Not very talkative."

"Must run in the family," she said as she drove home, her mind now occupied with thoughts of Max and Luke.

* * *

"You're being completely childish," Rory, Charlie in her arms, told her mother firmly the next morning as they were standing outside of Luke's.

"Am not," she whined.

"So what, you're never gonna go into Luke's again? We're just gonna get take out all the time?"

"Rory, it wasn't all that great, ok? I can't deal with him yet."

"But the coffee is in there!" she pointed out, not understanding how Lorelai was going to make it through a day without coffee. "And it's Danish Day. Are you seriously telling me that you're gonna let a stupid fight get in the way of Danish Day? A fight, by the way, that he has apologised for." Lorelai shifted Charlie from one hip to the other as they continued to stand outside of Luke's. "Well?" Rory asked impatiently. People in the diner and on the street were starting to stare at them.

"Fine," she said grudgingly.

"Good," Rory said as she gestured for Lorelai to lead the way. "Come on, I have to catch the bus soon," she said as she clapped her hands a little. Lorelai sighed once more and finally headed into the diner. "Luke! Two coffees and two danishes!" Rory called as they slid into a table. Luke jerked his head up when Rory called out and he was more than a little surprised to see Lorelai and Charlie there too.

"Hey," he said as he wandered over with said coffees and danishes.

"Hey," Lorelai replied as she pushed the coffee cup slightly further way from Charlie who was busy staring at Luke. Rory glanced from one adult to the other.

"Ooh! Bus!" she said as she quickly grabbed her danish and coffee. "Bye!" she called as she dashed out the door, leaving Luke and Lorelai to their own devices.

"So, uh, I hear you have a house guest," she finally said as she dipped her finger into the cherry danish filling and offered it to Charlie. Luke opened his mouth to comment but changed his mind.

"Yeah," he answered instead. "Jess, my nephew. Liz, my sister, sent him down."

"From?"

"New York."

"A bit of an adjustment," she said as she grabbed her coffee. Luke just shook his head.

"What was I thinking? Why did I say yes to this?" he asked her all of a sudden.

"Because that's what you do Luke. You look out for people, even if they don't think they need it," she finished quietly, still playing with her coffee mug.

"I didn't mean for it to come out the way it did," he said quietly as he sat down in the chair Rory had vacated. "It's just that when you guys go off, if something happens, Rory knows what to do. She can work a phone and get help but her? She's just along for the ride."

"Sookie knew where we were, possibly Michel as well," she told him. "Just because we didn't tell you we were going doesn't mean we didn't tell any one."

"I know. I know it was stupid of me to assume, but, you know."

"I know," she said. "Oh, hey, can you take her for a minute?" Lorelai asked as she stood up and passed Charlie over the table to Luke. "5 minutes," she said as she headed towards the washroom in the back. Luke stood there for a moment, holding Charlie awkwardly at arms length as his brain tried to catch up to what had just happened. Just as they were both starting to panic, the diner's phone rang and by the time he got over to it, Charlie was resting comfortably over his shoulder.

"Luke's . . .what is it Taylor? Slow down, you're babbling. Well, how do you know it was Jess?" he asked into the phone, one step below yelling because of the baby on his shoulder. "Okay, Taylor, I'll talk to him, but if he tells me he didn't do it and nobody saw him do it, then he is off the hook, understand?" he asked shortly before he hung up.

"Order up!" Caesar called from the kitchen and Luke sighed.

"Don't move," he muttered to Charlie as he picked up the plate and headed off to deliver it to the table. "I'm trying to run a business here," Luke admonished Lorelai when she returned from the back. "I'm not here to baby sit your kid, I'm here to cook food and serve it."

"Great. So, do you want to keep ranting about this or do you want to hand the baby back over?" she asked with an amused smirk. Charlie turned her head at the sound of her voice, but made no protestations about still being in Luke's arms.

"Right, right," he said as he held her out to her mother. "Next time I'm saying no."

"No you won't," Lorelai said with a smile as she grabbed the rest of her coffee after tossing a few bills on the table.

_No, I won't_, thought Luke as he shook his head and returned to running his business.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Later that night, after pushing Jess off the bridge and a rushed conversation with Lorelai, Luke stormed back into the apartment, tossing various products for quitting smoking at Jess. He laid down the rules that were going to apply while living under his roof as well as the stipulations that Babette's gnome be returned to his yard and the bridge money repaid to Taylor.

"You can't just. . ." Jess started to argue.

"I can just!" Luke yelled at him. "I am not letting you just fall off the face of the earth. You will not drift, I won't let it happen. Now, I don't know if this is the right was to handle this, but this is the way it's being handled, and that my friend, is the end of this discussion," he finished, rather proud of himself for laying down the law. "Where are you going?" he asked as Jess got up, grabbed his coat and headed for the door.

"Out," was all he said as he slammed the door.

"Well, at least I asked," Luke muttered to the empty apartment.

Jess wandered Stars Hollow slowly. He knew there wasn't really anywhere to go, so he was in no rush. Until he saw Rory leave one of the little stores that dotted the main street.

"Hey," he called as he jogged over to her.

"Hey yourself," she replied, the folder for her article now firmly in her hands.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked as they fell into an easy conversation. As Rory tried to engage him in something more substantial than the weather, he soon pulled a coin out of his pocket and started doing some slight of hand.

"Little tip?" she offered.

"Yeah?" he asked, waiting to see if she possibly knew how he could get better at this little trick.

"If you ever want to speak to me again, don't pull that out of my ear," she said casually as she continued on her way again. "I have homework to finish," she told him as he continued to do coin tricks.

"Night Rory."

"Night Dodger," she said coyly as she started to wander home.

"Dodger?"

"Figure it out."

"Oliver Twist," he called out after a second. Rory just smiled and kept walking towards home.

* * *

"Hey mom, it's me," Lorelai said into the phone as she flipped through her closet for something to wear. She figured she'd check in with her mother, just to make sure that she was still going to be able to watch Charlie while she went to class.

"Me who?" Emily asked.

"Bertie, your other, favourite daughter," Lorelai said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. "Me mom, Lorelai."

"I think I'd rather talk to Bertie," she said dryly.

"Anyway," Lorelai said as she changed the subject while she pulled a skirt out of the closet and held it up to her waist as she looked in the mirror. She frowned slightly as she realized that the skirt would emphasis the baby weight she was still carrying. "Do you want me to drop Charlie off at your place, or are you going to come out here?"

"What on earth are you talking about Lorelai?"

"It's Thursday mom, I have class," she said as she tossed the skirt on the bed and dug another one out.

"At what time?"

"Class starts at 2:30 mom, like every Thursday."

"I can't this week," Emily said casually. "I have a DAR function to go to."

"What? No, mom, you _demanded_ that I leave Charlie with you when I had class, you can't back out now," she argued.

"Get Rory to watch her."

"Rory has to work on the paper after school mom, she doesn't get home until 5. You _have_ to take Charlie. I bought her acceptable fall dresses. I will dress her up and do her hair so you can take her with you, show her off to all your friends. . . "

"I can't Lorelai, I have to run, I'm late."

"Mom!"

"Good bye Lorelai!" Emily said as she quickly hung up the phone.

"Unbelievable!" she yelled as she tossed the phone on the bed. "Your grandmother. . . . Unbelievable!" she said to Charlie, who was watching the performance from her bouncy chair. She sighed as she threw on an outfit. It wasn't very pretty to look at, but she had to scrounge up a last minute sitter so Max was just going to have to deal if he showed up. She grabbed the phone and quickly started dialling.

Sookie was working, Babette and Morey were out, Miss Patty was teaching. . . The list went on until she realized that there was only one person left to call.

"Luke's."

"When does your dinner rush start?" she asked in a hurry as she moved Charlie from her seat to the crib as she began to rush around and gather Charlie's things.

"Lorelai?" Luke asked, more than a little confused.

"Yes. Luke, when does it start?" she asked again as she spun around in a circle looking to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

"About 5:30 or so. Some times earlier some times later," he volunteered. "Why?" he quickly asked as his mind raced, trying to figure out why she would possibly be asking something like this.

"I need a sitter, for a couple of hours."

"Congratulations, why are you calling me?" he asked. "Oh no! No way!" he said quickly as he figured it out.

"Luke, my mother backed out on me and I have called _everyone_ I know, even the kids that only kind of hung out with Rory in high school and I can't find anyone!" Lorelai plucked Charlie from the crib and changed her as she continued to balance the phone on her shoulder while trying to convince Luke to watch Charlie for her.

"I already told you, no!" he said as he filled a cup of coffee at the counter.

"She'll just sit there and watch, I swear, probably even sleep the whole time! Please Luke? Please, please, please, please, please. . ." she whined as she snapped Charlie into a clean outfit before picking her up and grabbing the bag and heading downstairs.

"Fine!" he cut her off as he put the coffee pot back on the burner before he pinched the bridge of his nose, already regretting this.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said with a smile as she dropped the bag by the door and strapped Charlie into her car seat. "I'll tell Rory to go straight to the diner when she's done at school. Thank you Luke!" she said again as she hung up and quickly dialled Rory's number and left a message on her voice mail as she walked out to the jeep. "Come on you, we have stuff to do," she said as she tucked a blanket around Charlie before she got in the drivers seat.

* * *

A few of the customers watched as Luke paced nervously around the diner. He had picked up one of the coffee pots, but he was neglecting everyone who signalled that they wanted a refill. They had all heard the conversation on the phone and while they had a vague idea what was about to happen, they were all lingering just to see for sure.

"She's fed and changed and kinda sleepy," Lorelai told Luke as she hurried into the diner and put the carrier, with Charlie in it, on the counter. Lorelai didn't notice Luke look into it and swallow hard. "She'll be fine for at least 3 hours, so you're safe."

"And if something unexpected comes up?" he asked as he headed behind the counter to put the pot down on the burner.

"She's a chick magnet. Look cute and helpless and some one will come to your rescue," she said casually. "Lane will be over at 4:30 to check on you. She has a 10 minute break during band practice so you only have to survive until 4:30 and you know that there will be several people in and out of here and they will all offer to help."

"Right," he said, still staring hard at the baby who was starting to doze already. His brain was still denying the fact that he was about to be left along with this baby for just over 2 hours.

"It'll be fine Luke," she assured him again, resting a hand on his arm for a moment. "Everything you might ever need is in here," she said as she put a backpack on the counter beside Charlie. After using a backpack as a baby bag with Rory, she saw no need to change this time.

"Okay," he said as he pulled it close and took a look inside. "How can one tiny person need all of this stuff?" he asked when he saw how full it was.

"Mmmm. . . More of a 'plan for all contingencies' type of thing with children under 4. Rory will be here by 5. I told her to call if she's going to be late. Bye kiddo, bye Luke," she said as she left the diner quickly, before Luke could protest. Luke watched Lorelai leave and he heaved a rather large sigh as he adjusted his hat slightly and stared down at the baby again. Charlie cracked an eye open to glance at him before sighing herself and dropping back off to sleep.

"So far so good," he said as he glanced around the diner. He couldn't leave her on the counter but he wasn't really sure where else to put her. He finally decided on the 'loser mini table' as Lorelai called it and quickly moved it to a corner of the diner, away from the door, where he could keep an eye on her. After shoving a couple of tea towels under the carrier so it wouldn't move around, he stepped back to admire his handy work before returning to the customers he had at the moment, who had been neglected before Lorelai arrived.

* * *

Class had gone well, she had fielded the obligatory, slightly condescending, questions about Charlie from the snotty 20 year old who sat beside her that she insisted on asking before and after class.

"I would really love to stick around and pander to all these really . . . . Super questions, but I really need to go and pick up the child that we have just spent the last 10 minutes talking about," Lorelai fibbed as she gathered up her books, pens and highlighters and beat a hastily retreat to the coffee shop across the street. She glanced casually around the small coffee shop before she headed to the counter to place her order and take a seat. While not as good as Luke's coffee, this place was still more than half decent. When she didn't see Max right away, she headed to a seat at the counter to wait for a while.

"This seat taken?"

"Why Max Medina, fancy meeting you here," she said as she gestured that he could take the seat. The two quickly fell into an easy conversation and before Lorelai realised it, she had was going to be late if she didn't run. "I really, really have to go," she said as she drained the last of her 3rd refill and grabbed her coat.

"Can I call you?" he asked hopefully as he tossed some money onto the counter to cover all the coffees. She hesitated for a moment. This would _definitely_ be blurring Rory's invisible line between home and school.

"My cell number," she said as she jotted it down for him. "Rory is still. . . Warming up to the idea," she said as she handed him the slip of paper with her phone number.

"And Charlie?" he asked with a grin.

"Well, she doesn't have a lot to say right now, she's really more of a thinker than a talker," she said with a sly grin. "Ok, now I _really_ have to go," she said as she offered him one last smile before dashing out the door and across the street to the jeep.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Luke's things had gone smoothly for the first 20 minutes. Charlie slept peacefully in her corner and the diner crowd thinned out even further, giving Luke an opportunity to clean almost all the tables and brew some fresh coffee without rushing. The 21st minute, however, things took an abrupt turn.

Charlie started crying and Luke started to panic. He dove head first into the bag Lorelai had left, searching for a pacifier. There had to be one in there somewhere, she was _always_ pulling one out of the bag. He dug through all the pockets, finally locating one in the last pocket he searched and he quickly put it in her mouth, hoping that this would calm the baby and it did.

For all of 5 seconds.

"Damnit!" Luke said under his breath as he started to panic a little more. He glanced around the diner, hoping to find some one to help him, unfortunately the last of the coffee drinkers had taken off when Charlie had started to cry so there was no one to save him. "Ok, ok. . . Come on Danes. . . " he muttered to himself as he dove back into the bag, looking for clues but came up mostly empty handed. He sighed as he pulled out a diaper and hoped to God he was wrong. With a deep breath, he crossed the diner in a few strides and began to unstrap the baby. He cautiously lift her out of the carrier and was more than a little shocked at the near silence that followed. Charlie fussed for a few more minutes until had had her settled against his shoulder, much the same was she had been the first time Lorelai had left him holding her.

Though he would never admit it out loud, carrying Charlie around wasn't so bad. He eventually got her to take the pacifier and hold onto it and, eventually, had had wandered around the diner so much with her that she had fallen asleep. He took the opportunity to deposit her in the carrier again and breathed a sigh of relief as she stayed asleep.

Until Kirk burst in, announcing his need for a late lunch/early supper. Luke sent a withering glare in Kirks direction as he picked Charlie up again and went to take his order.

"You seem to have your hands full Luke, perhaps I could be of service?" Kirk asked when Luke and Charlie came over to his table.

"You're going to leave?" Luke asked.

"I am excellent with young children," Kirk said, ignoring Luke's comment. "For a small fee, I would be more than willing to look after Lorelai's baby for you." Luke stared at Kirk for a moment, trying to figure out if he was serious or not. "You know what? I'll even accept my meal as payment," he said as he held out his arms to accept the baby.

"How about I keep her and get you that sandwich and mashed potatoes and you pay full price?" Kirk gave a small sigh as he pulled his arms back.

"Fine," he answered as he started to examine his cutlery.

"Fantastic," Luke said as he headed to the kitchen to relay the order to Caesar. As he waited for something more to do, he found himself resting against the counter. With a sigh, he took Charlie from his shoulder and held her at eye level. "If we ever do this again, you're going to sleep the whole time, right?" he asked her. Charlie simply kicked her legs and stared at him. He shook his head and rested her in his arms again as they waited for Kirks order to be ready.

"Wow, I didn't really believe it when I heard it but, here you are," Babette said as she came in.

"Can you take her?" he asked as he held the baby out to her. She took Charlie and headed to a table to sit down. Luke headed to the kitchen for a breather and he rolled his shoulders, trying to work out the kinks and the sore muscles from having held at least 10 pounds of baby for the last hour. Just as he was starting to relax, the phone rang.

"Luke's," he said quickly into the phone. "No Rory, you can't be late," he said. "You have to be here by 5."

"Paris is freaking out about the paper and is making everyone stay and redo their articles. I won't be back until 5:30, at the earliest."

"Rory, I can't carry your sister around for another 2 hours. You _have_ to come home," he complained. Rory tried very hard not to snicker at him since she was sure this was about as close to whining as Luke was ever going to get.

"Ah yes, the 3:00 cling. Mom didn't warn you, did she?" she asked as she ducked out side of the news room and into the hall.

"And why would she do that?" he asked sarcastically.

"Duck out and grab the sling. It's hung up by the front door," she suggested. "Hands free carrying, always a bonus in your line of work."

"I swear to God, this is the very last time," he said firmly as he tried to figure out if he could get away for 10 minutes.

"No it's not," Rory said with a chuckle. "I'm really sorry Luke, good luck!" she said as she hung up and returned to her work for the paper. Luke scowled as he looked around. Everything was fairly quiet and he was pretty sure that Babette would gladly hang onto Charlie until he got back.

"Babette, can you hang onto her for about ten minutes?" he asked her. She agreed and he quickly dashed out of the diner, calling out to Caesar as he went before he jumped in to his truck and headed for the Crap Shack, hoping, for the first time, that Lorelai had left the door unlocked.

* * *

"You owe me like there is no tomorrow!" Luke said to Lorelai when she finally showed up at the diner. She tried hard not to snicker as she took him in, sling around his shoulders as he dashed around the diner. "This is not funny."

"No, it's adorable. Come here," she said. He dropped off the plates he was holding before he came to stand in front of her. She quickly lifted Charlie from the sling and he quickly took it off and tossed it over her head before he headed off to take an order. Lorelai chuckled a little more as she ventured over to the counter and took a seat, resting Charlie in her lap, hanging the sling off of her knee as she whispered greetings to the baby.

"You could have warned me," he said as he walked past her.

"About?" she asked casually as he served her a cup of coffee.

"The 3:00 cling," he said, leaning on the counter. "Only it started 20 minutes after you left."

"She gets like that some times," Lorelai said casually with a shrug as she rocked Charlie a little.

"You still could have mentioned it," Luke said as he came around the counter and shot her a look.

"And you would have spent the whole time freaking out that any noise you made would bring it on." The pair looked at each other for a moment.

"Still."

"Fine," she said with a shrug. "Burgers and fries. Rory will be here shortly." Luke shook his head and went to place the order.

* * *

"No mom, I didn't forget," Lorelai said into the phone as she paced around the second floor, trying to hurry the conversation along. Rory was trying to study while Charlie had decided to have a crying jag and all Lorelai really wanted to do was to bundle her up into the jeep and drive until she fell asleep but her mother would not get off the phone. "Rory's gonna be her sponsor."

"Absolutely not!" Emily called loudly.

"Why not mom?"

"She's not over 18. It wouldn't be responsible."

"This isn't a legally binding, 'if I die Rory gets the baby' type of ceremony mom, it doesn't matter. Rory wants to do it and I want her to do it." Lorelai stopped pacing and started to bounce Charlie, hoping that would quiet her down.

"Absolutely not Lorelai. It isn't appropriate. What about that friend of yours?" she asked, starting to speak louder to be heard over the baby. "Lorelai, what on earth is wrong with that child?" Lorelai sighed.

"I don't know mom. If you would let me go, I'd work a little harder on finding out," Lorelai said sarcastically. She sighed before she started again, slightly more calm. "I will ask Sookie. Anything else?" she asked, agreeing to the request with the hope that Emily would hang up.

"Yes. Final fittings for the gown are on Saturday, You still need to pick out flowers with me on Friday and Reverend O'Malley would like to see us to talk about a few details."

"Fine, mom, set it up. I really have to run mom, are we done?" Lorelai was swaying now.

"No, we are not done," she said as she quickly flipped through her notes.

"Mom, I have one daughter trying to study and another screaming for no reason. Please, please, PLEASE let us be done for now!" she finally yelled into the phone.

"MOM!" Rory yelled as she stomped up the stairs and Charlie began to scream louder. Emily said something into the phone that Lorelai couldn't make out as Rory called out to her about having to study for a test and Charlie continued to scream.

"I'll call you back!" she finally yelled, hitting the end button on the phone. "I'm sorry, we're going," she said to Rory as she ushered her out of the room. She quickly changed Charlie into a warm pair of sleepers and buckled her into the car seat, zipping the snuggly bag up and tossing a few blankets over top before she grabbed her bag, keys and coat and headed down stairs and out of the house. Charlie was quickly strapped in and Lorelai began to drive aimlessly, heading for the highway as she had a feeling that it was going to take a drive to Hartford to calm the baby down. "Could have gotten away with Woodbridge but noooooooo. . ." Lorelai muttered as she changed lanes. "Emily just would not shut up," she concluded as she tried to relax and drive.

* * *

Lorelai crept into the house cautiously when she finally made it back home. Charlie had been stubborn tonight and it had taken an extra half hour of driving around Hartford for her to finally drop off. Lorelai set the carrier down by the door as she dropped the bag of taco's on the kitchen table, hoping the smell would lure Rory out of her study den before she headed back out to the living room to bring the baby upstairs.

"Hey kid," she said with a smile when she came back down and saw Rory attacking the tacos with a vengeance.

"Hey," Rory said, her mouth already full.

"I'm sorry about before," Lorelai said as she grabbed her meal. "I meant to be out of the house as soon as you mentioned the word 'study', but your grandmother called. And then Charlie started. And then Emily would. Not. Hang. Up," she said, emphasizing that 'would not hang up'. "Oh, P.S., you're no longer the sponsor." This made Rory pause, mouth still open with the taco halfway there.

"What?" she asked when her brain finally made contact with her mouth again.

"Emily said no and I was in no position to argue. I got a hold of Sookie while I was in Hartford," Lorelai replied with a bit of a sigh as she pulled a taco out of the bag and began to unwrap it.

"Hartford?" Rory cut her off.

"Oh yes, Charlie was in a particularly pleasant mood tonight. Anyways, I got a hold of her while I was in Hartford and Sookie said she'd be happy to do it." Rory nodded in approval.

"I was thinking," Rory started. "Maybe I should set up a study schedule and post it on the fridge."

"Don't you do that already?" Lorelai asked, her mouth now full of taco.

"Ok, so it would be more of a 'stay out of the house NOW!' schedule," she clarified.

"Gotcha. We'll put it together after dinner," she said with a nod before finishing her taco and pulling a second out of the bag.

"Oh yeah, thanks for the ear plugs," Rory said with a smile. "I've been meaning to say something for a while now but. . . " Lorelai had left the ear plugs on her desk nearly a week ago, but they just hadn't cut it today. While Rory could sleep through a bomb blast, studying was a different matter.

"I know. I take the lack of you yelling at me while she's screaming as a sign they're worth it," she said with a smile that Rory returned before they both dove back into the food before heading out to the living room to watch a movie. Half way through, Charlie woke up and insisted on joining them, fortunately she was in a better mood than before and sat contented through it.

* * *

"Oh yeah," Lorelai said as she and Rory battled a screaming Charlie into the christening gown. "Today is going to go _swimmingly_."

"Why is she so mad at everything?" Rory asked as she picked her sister up and paced around the room.

"Who knows," Lorelai muttered as she tossed Rory a pacifier before she started to clean up Charlie's supplies. "Maybe it's just that time of the month," she joked. Rory simply shook her head as she came to a stop in front of a window, holding the pacifier to Charlie's mouth while she began pointing things out the baby, hoping to distract her.

"Could she be getting sick? I mean, she hasn't really caught anything big yet and she's about due."

"Because of karma?" Lorelai asked as she ducked into the bathroom to change. "Rory, have you been reading again?" she called after a moment.

"No," Rory called in a small voice after a lengthy pause.

"Liar," Lorelai called as she started on her hair. "Is Sookie still harassing the staff in the kitchen?" Lorelai asked.

"She's not up here," Rory confirmed. "I should go find her, shouldn't I?"

"Take the little dictator with you." Rory shook her head.

"Come on Fidel, let's find Sookie," she muttered to the still angry baby as she left the room to go and hunt down Sookie and drag her back up to the room.

* * *

The ceremony, though long, boring and hot, was surprisingly peaceful. Charlie fell asleep in the car and slept through the ceremony until Reverend O'Malley poured the Holy Water over her head. Lorelai had suggested heating it slightly but apparently they hadn't listened and she smirked a little, after she kept herself for lunging for the baby, when the Reverend nearly dropped her as she let out the first shocked cry of protest at the cold water on her warm head.

"Well, that performance at the end was slightly jarring," Emily commented to Lorelai during the reception. She glanced up at her mother as Charlie snuggled a little deeper against her, drowsy now that she had been fed and provided with a pacifier and blanket.

"I imagine it wasn't all that pleasant for her either," she quipped as she held Charlie a little closer and rubbed her back, willing her to fall asleep for a bit. Emily ignored her as she went to greet more people Lorelai didn't know. Lorelai shook her head and cast a glance over at the ever growing pile of gifts people were leaving. She sighed as she thought about the amount of religious articles she was going to have to deal with. If Rory's baptism was any indication, she was probably going to be begging Mrs. Kim to take all the religious memorabilia off of her hands in exchange for something from her store. She was noticing a new trend this time around; there seemed to be a growing pile of envelopes on the table as well.

"This is quite the get together," Sookie commented as she brought back a plate of finger food for the two of them to share.

"This is Gilmore Land," Lorelai said with a shrug. "What's that?" she asked, pointing to an unidentifiable appetiser. Sookie quickly ate it.

"Duck and caviar," she said after a moment.

"Pass," Lorelai said with a smile as she stuck to the more identifiable foods.

"She seems happier."

"Finally. She's been like this for about 3 days now. Irritable and mad at everything and everyone. . . I'm starting to think it's a brain eating parasite," she said as she cradled Charlie in her arms, making sure that the pacifier was still firmly plugged into her mouth while she dozed.

"Really," was all Sookie could say as she started to chuckle.

"I'm not really sure what else could take my sweet little baby and make her grumpier than Luke on a bad day."

"So, how much longer are you going to stay?" Sookie asked, changing the subject.

"'Till the bitter, bitter end," Lorelai said with a shake of her head. "Just as she falls asleep, my mother is going to make me stand up by the door, say good bye to people, most of whom I don't know, and thank them for coming. They will then all want to touch or hold or do something with Charlie which will inevitably result in screaming from her and dirty looks from my mother. It's going to be a thrill and you are more than welcome to miss it." Sookie chuckled and assured Lorelai that she'd stick around for the fun and excitement, even if it was only to offer moral support. Things eventually did play out exactly as Lorelai said they would. Charlie drifted off to sleep and 5 minutes later, as people were starting to leave, Emily dragged Lorelai to the door and within a few minutes of getting up there, Charlie was voicing her discontent yet again.

* * *

"She seems to be screaming," Luke announced as he dropped food off later in the evening. Lorelai shot him a look as she invited him in. Rory had escaped to Lanes for the evening shortly after they had gotten home and Lorelai wished she could join her.

"Really? Because I hadn't noticed," Lorelai said sarcastically. She was tired and irritable after the events of the day and really wasn't in the mood for more sarcasm. Luke quickly dropped the bags of food off on the kitchen table and turned to leave when he met the screaming baby face to face. "I need 5 minutes," she said, still holding the baby out. "I need to go up stairs and hide for 5 minutes before I start to cry, please Luke." the pair stared each other down for a moment before he relented and took the baby.

"Five minutes," he confirmed as he took the baby and Lorelai turned and headed up stairs. She headed into her room and sat on the bed and she did allow herself a few minutes to cry and wallow. She was exhausted and tense from worrying about Charlie and trying to keep the baby from disturbing Rory. She knew there was no point in taking her to the Dr, she wasn't sick, she was just mad at the world.

"Quiet," she muttered after a minute. "There's no screaming," she muttered to herself again as she pulled herself back together and headed down stairs where she found Luke lazing on the couch with a relatively content Charlie on his chest. "You're kidding, right?" she asked as she came down the stairs. "She has been in this house, screaming at everything for the past 3 days and you hold her for less than 5 minutes and all is right in the world? There is no justice!" she exclaimed as she flopped down next to him on the couch.

"Your five minutes are up," he said as she handed Charlie over. The baby stayed quiet for all of 30 seconds before crying out again.

"I will pay you to stay," she said quickly as she tried to hand the baby back to him. He looked at her and cocked an eye brow. "I mean it, name your price and I will pay it if you stay."

"How long?"

"As long as you can for as much as you want," she looked at him pleadingly and he eventually relented and took the baby back. She quieted and Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief as she sank into the couch. "Thank God," she muttered as she leaned against his shoulder. He chuckled at her performance and was more than a little shocked when he realized that the two Gilmore Girls had fallen asleep on him.

* * *

"It's quiet," Rory remarked as she entered the house cautiously. She slipped her shoes off and hung her coat up before creeping around the corner and into the living room. Her eye brows shot up as she saw exactly who was in her house and asleep on the couch. "Interesting," was all she said at the sight of both her mother and sister curled up asleep on an also sleeping Luke. She quickly headed to her room and jotted 'I'm home' on a post-it and stuck it to Lorelai's forehead before turning off the TV and heading to her room for the night.

* * *

"When did you get in last night?" Lorelai asked as she walked into the kitchen with Charlie in her arms.

"Some time after you and Charlie fell asleep on Luke," she said, hiding a grin in her coffee mug as Lorelai strapped Charlie into her bouncy seat.

"He made her be quiet. The guy who thinks all kids have jam hands and are icky made her be quiet and fall asleep voluntarily for the first time in 3 days," Lorelai commented as she finally got a hold of a cup of coffee.

"She's also very content this morning," Rory commented, glancing over at Charlie as she sat in her bouncy seat on the kitchen table, watching the world go by.

"I know. Should we be wigging that Luke seems to be a baby whisperer?" Rory and Lorelai looked at each other for a moment.

"I say don't question it."

"Deal," Lorelai said as she grabbed her mug of coffee and joined Rory at the kitchen table.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

* * *

A few weeks later, Rory found herself at her grandparents house after school. Her grandfather had promised her a book and she was here to pick it up finally.

"Hi Grandma, Sorry to butt in like this," Rory said as she glanced at all the women on the patio. She had stopped at the Gilmore residence while her mother was breaking up with Max.

"Nonsense, come and meet my friends. Ladies, I'd like you to meet my eldest granddaughter, Rory."

"Well, hello Rory," said one of the ladies as Rory cautiously found her way out onto the patio.

"Nice to meet you," she said politely.

"My goodness, what a pretty girl you are," a second lady commented as the conversation quickly descended into how much she looked like her mother with a few jabs at the girl Lorelai used to be.

"Come, sit. Would you like some tea?" Emily finally offered.

"Oh no. I just came to pick up a book that Grandpa was supposed to leave for me."

"Go check his study. It might be on his desk."

"Okay, thanks," she said as she beat a hasty retreat into the house. There was something about the looks all those women were giving her that made her slightly nervous. While Rory was gone, Emily and her DAR friends quickly began talking about what it would be like if Rory entered the Debutante Ball and how she'd be Emily's finest moment. After a few moments of listening to her friends talk about it, Emily knew what she had to do. After all the trouble with Richard and all the social engagements he had declined on their behalf, Emily needed to do something, anything, to re-solidify her social standing. "I found it," she said as she came back out onto the patio a few moments later. "Yay," she finished lamely when no one said anything as they all looked at her and smiled.

* * *

Rory stood outside the front door of her house for a few moments as she fidgeted with the brochures in her hand. Her mother was going to flip out. There would be mocking and raving and phone calls to Emily and she was going to have to talk her down and convince her that this was what she really wanted to do. When she walked into the house and saw Lorelai waltzing around the kitchen with Charlie again, she decided that now was not the time and quickly hid the brochures behind her back as she ducked into her room.

"I'm coming out," Rory finally announced that evening as she helped Charlie stand on the kitchen table. Charlie was content again, for the time being.

"Out of what?" Lorelai asked as she looked up from the book she was studying for her business class.

"Out into society," she said quietly.

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked, finally putting her pencil down to concentrate on her eldest.

"I went to Grandma's house after school."

"Okay, right away? Bad."

"And, um, her DAR friends were all there and they were talking about this debutante ball that's being thrown," Rory said, still focusing her attention on her sister.

"Oh no," Lorelai said as she hung her head. This was bad, very bad. Rory kept explaining how she had ended up involved in this as Lorelai pushed away from the table to go and find the phone.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked as she finally realised that Lorelai had gotten up from the table and had gotten the phone.

"I'm getting you out of this," she said with determination. As she started to dial the phone.

"I'm doing this," Rory said quickly as she swept Charlie up into her arms and followed Lorelai into the living room and quickly plucked the phone from her hands, hitting the end button as she dropped it onto the table beside the answering machine. "It's important to Grandma." They argued about it for a moment before Lorelai said she'd help out with it. Rory handed Charlie over and went to find the booklet Emily had sent home with her about the ball.

"What's wrong?" Lorelai asked as she saw the look on Rory's face.

"It just says that I need an escort and that my father is supposed to present me at the ceremony."

"Oh, honey. There should be many things that make you feel awkward at a Debutante Ball but calling your father should not be one of them," Lorelai said, pointing a finger at Rory. "Hand me the phone," she said after a minute. Rory handed Charlie over to Lorelai as she got up from the couch to get the phone. Lorelai quickly dialled Christopher's number while hanging onto Charlie with the other. "Pen," she called. Rory quickly grabbed one and handed it to Lorelai. She quickly jotted down the number the operator provided her with on the page of a magazine that had been on the arm of the couch..

"He's not going to come," Rory said, more to try and prepare herself for that possibility.

"You don't know until you ask," Lorelai countered as she dialled the new number. "Where the hell are you?" she asked when Christopher picked up the phone.

"Boston," he replied casually as he wandered around his apartment.

"Oh. Okay," she said as she mouthed Boston? To Rory with a confused look on her face. Rory returned the shrug. "So, get ready for this. Rory is coming out."

"Um, congratulations?" he said, not really sure how to react to this news.

"Coming out, Chris. White dresses, gloves, curtsies," she said as she got up to pace since Charlie was becoming restless.

"Stop it," he said, though he was rather relieved it wasn't what he originally thought.

"I swear to God," she said as she tried to keep the phone away from Charlie's hands. She let out a squeal of frustration.

"Hi baby," Chris said loudly so Charlie could hear. The sound of his voice stopped her in her tracks for a moment before she resumed her attempts to grab the phone.

"So, Rory's wondering if you'll grace us with your presence," she said, finally handing the baby off to Rory so she could finish the conversation in peace.

"I'm there."

"It's next weekend."

"I'll clear my schedule," he said calmly and with a smile.

"You swear?"

"Yes," he said again. "I swear."

"Bye," she said with a smile of her own.

"Bye," he said as he hung up.

"Well, you've got half of your escorts down," Lorelai called to Rory who had headed to the kitchen to pace.

"You're kidding!"

"Definitely said he'd be there."

"So, 50/50 chance?" she asked as she passed Charlie back to Lorelai.

"I don't know," she said as she bounced the baby a little. "He sounded pretty sure, I'd say 60/40." Rory let out a delighted little squeal as she headed for her room.

"Wait, what about my escort."

"Does Grandma know you're single?"

"Yeah."

"She'll take care of it," Lorelai assured her as she deposited Charlie back on the blanket she had put on the kitchen floor for her so she could play while she studied.

* * *

"Sookie darling," Lorelai called as she waltzed into the kitchen at the Inn the next day.

"Lorelai sweetie," she said with a smile as she waltz over to greet her. "Where's the Cutie Pie?" she asked.

"Rory had the morning off so I left them at home to bond, have a party, whatever," she said casually as she accepted the cup of coffee from Sookie. "Hey, are you free next weekend?"

"Mmmm . . . When?"

"Saturday night? My mother convinced Rory that she needs to come out so, she's taking part in the DAR debutante ball and while I know it's going to be a hoot, I doubt a 4 month old will feel that way."

"Sorry," she said with a small smile as she pushed a plate of pastry forward to soften the blow. "I have plans."

"And these plans would happen to include a some one named Jackson, would they?" she asked as she wagged her eye brows. Sookie blushed and smile and Lorelai thought it was cute that they had been together for long but Sookie still blushed when Lorelai brought it up.

"They might," she said as she quickly turned back to the stove. "Hey, I heard a crazy rumour the other day."

"Do tell," she said as she leaned on the island to listen.

"I heard that Luke soothed the savage beast."

"He did," Lorelai replied as she grabbed a pastry. "She would not stop screaming and Rory had escaped to Lane's house and he was dropping off the food I had ordered and I begged him to take her for 5 minutes so I could go and fall apart upstairs for a moment. When I got back down, quiet. Blissful, peaceful silence that threatened to be ended by him giving me back Charlie. I all but promised him sexual favours to stay and he did. Thank God. He looked _really_ cute with her too," she said with a smile. Sookie simply raised her eye brows at this before turning back to the sauce she was working on. "What?"

"Remember that thing that Luke doesn't have for you?"

"Yeah," she answered hesitantly as she picked at the dannish, not looking at Sookie.

"This would be another example of not having a thing."

"Sookie . . ." she complained as she dropped the dannish on the counter.

"How many times have you ever seen Luke Danes content to have babies in his diner? And, if you can manage to calculate that stat, how many time have you ever seen him hold a baby, other than Charlie?" Lorelai sat back for a moment as she considered what Sookie had said. "And, since everything I've just said is true, how likely do you think it is that he agrees to stay at some ones house all night and let a baby sleep on him? Still think he doesn't have a thing for you?"

"Yes Sookie," she said confidently. "Because it's Luke! Luke Danes! He serves coffee and complains about every festival in this town and the amount of coffee that I drink and the various semi liquid things I sneak to that pretty little girl at home with Rory. I am only going to say this once more: Luke Danes does not have a thing for me," she said as she stood and left the kitchen. She hesitated outside the door for a moment as she let her mind wander back to what Sookie had said. "Oh boy." Was all Lorelai got out as she considered this.

A trip to Egypt was looking pretty good right about now.

* * *

"Oh good, you're home."

"Grandma?" Rory asked into the phone, juggling it with one hand while trying to keep Charlie from rolling off the couch with the other. "Hold on a minute," she said as she put the phone down, finished diapering the baby and put her on the blanket on the floor that seemed to have become a permanent fixture in the living room. "Okay, I'm back."

"What on earth are you doing?" Emily asked as she flipped through her date book.

"Trying to juggle Charlie. Why are you calling Grandma?" she asked as she pulled her text books back into her lap.

"Where's your mother? Oh never mind. I called because I've found you an escort," she said brightly as she located his details in her date book. She was very happy that she was able to get a hold of this young man. He was a good boy and, needless to say, Emily had visions of perhaps being able to get him and Rory together, bring a little respectability to her.

"Really?" she said, not really believing that Emily Gilmore had accomplished that task so quickly. She also forgot about trying to study during this phone call. If she were to do that, chances of her grandmother springing something on her were very high.

"Yes, a lovely young man by the name of Atherton Wing," she said proudly. "His father, you met him at the cocktail party a few months ago, works for your grandfather."

"Great," she said, trying to sound happy. Emily quickly launched into some more of Atherton's strong points before she shifted to wardrobe, hair and make up. Rory listened, adding an ok and sure when the opportunity was presented, but most of it was over her head.

"Have you mother call me when she gets home so I can go over things with her as well."

"Will do," she said cheerfully, happy this particular conversation was over.

"And say hello to your sister for me. Good bye Rory," Emily said primly, reigning in her enthusiasm to a more polite tone.

"Bye Grandma," she said as she hung up the phone and turned her attention to Charlie for a moment. "Grandma says hi," she said casually before going back to her studies. Charlie didn't really care, she was to interested in the brightly coloured blocks that were in front of her.

* * *

"Oh my God," Rory and Lorelai both said to each other when they met up at Luke's that afternoon.

"You first," Lorelai said as she plucked a happy Charlie from Rory's arms.

"Grandma found me an escort already. Are you ready to mock? His name is Atherton." Lorelai didn't even reply, she just started to laugh and Rory quickly joined in. When they both calmed down, Rory quickly spilled out all the other details that Emily had been kind enough to share with her about her new escort. The pair started snickering again.

"My mother, ladies and gentlemen," she said when she finally got herself under control.

"So, your news?" Rory asked, quickly moving the subject away from the Debutante Ball. Lorelai glanced around the diner for a moment. She leaned forward, without crushing Charlie, and whispered "Sookie thinks Luke has a thing for me. Rory sat back for a moment, her face in a fairly neutral expression. "What?"

"Luke can't have a thing for you. If he has a thing for you and something happens, we'll never be able to eat here again. We've been over this before," she said calmly, taking a sip from the coffee that Lorelai had ordered for her before she got to the diner.

"I know, it's just. . . "

"Oh my God! You have a thing too!" Rory cried, sounding like she was slightly horrified.

"Be quiet," she said, glancing around to make sure no one was really paying attention to them. "I don't have a_ thing_. There is no thing," she assured Rory. The conversation was quickly dropped when Luke came over to the table.

"So, other than coffee today?" he asked, pad and pencil perched to take their orders. Rory and Lorelai glanced at each other quickly before turning their attention to Luke.

"Are you free next Saturday night?" Lorelai asked. Luke simply blinked at her.

"No," he said as he turned his attention to Rory.

"You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"It's going to involve some combination of the following: I need a sitter, I need a date or I need a steady supply of junk food. How close am I?"

"You did so well last time," she said as she flirted with him.

"No," he said again. "Are you going to order, or should I come back?" Lorelai grumbled a little before she and Rory finally ordered. Rory ate quickly before dashing off to catch the bus for her afternoon classes, leaving Lorelai to stew about what she was going to do with Charlie Saturday night.

"Are you sure?" she asked as she paid the bill.

"We barely survived 3 hours together," he said as he made change. "I doubt we'd survive a whole night. Besides, a diner is no place for a baby to hang out."

"But she just slept on you. She seems to adore you!" Lorelai tried to convince him. When he continued to simply stare at her, she finally relented. "I guess you're right," she said as she handed him a tip before leaving. "Lane!" she called out when she saw Rory's best friend heading back to school after a lunch at home. "Are you free next Saturday night?"

"I think so."

"Feel like baby sitting for a few hours?" she asked hopefully, making sure to flash the cute little baby.

"Sure," she said with a smile.

"I'll call you tonight about it, all the details and what not," she said with a smile.

"I'll be around," she said as she took off for school. Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief and headed home. Now that that was taken care of, she could breath a little easier.

* * *

"No mom, I'm sure one crinoline will be plenty. No, she doesn't. I'm sure she doesn't. Yeah, in what scenario would I have bought Rory elbow length kidskin gloves, mom?" Lorelai asked as she paced the living room, on the phone with her mother. "Oh, I'm sorry, I meant in what scenario on _my_ planet would I have bought Rory elbow length kidskin gloves?" she asked as she leaned in close to Rory's face before pulling back and heading for the kitchen again.

"So?" Rory asked Lane as the pair sat on the couch. Lane was flipping through the debutante brochure while Rory gave Charlie a bottle.

"There are like, a million don'ts for every do," Lane commented. "And an escort? Do you have an escort?"

"My grandmother found one. Some guy named Atherton," Rory replied casually as she focussed her attention on the baby.

"Atherton?"

"Atherton Wing."

"Wow. Great band name, horrible person name," she said with a shake of her head before she turned her attention to the brochure she was holding.

"No, I don't have to ask her mom 'cause I know the answer. I know the answer, mom, I know the answer. Yeah, no, okay, well, I don't have to ask her mom . . . Hold on. Rory, would you like Grandma's hairstylist to come and set your hair before the ball?" Lorelai finally asked Rory to make her mother happy. Rory made a face that most definitely said 'no'. "Oh, I did not coach her mom, go back to talking about gloves," she said, trying to changing the subject while heading back towards the kitchen again.

"I hope he looks good in a tux," Rory said with a sigh.

"Tails," Lane corrected as she read the page again.

"Really?"

"Yeah, according to this it says that all escorts must be properly attired in black tails, white cummerbunds and white gloves." Rory leaned over slightly to watch as Lane underlined that particular passage with a finger.

"The boys have to wear gloves to?"

"Apparently," Lane said, pointing out the passage.

"Huh," was all Rory could say as Charlie finished with her meal. Rory quickly put the bottle on the coffee table before putting Charlie on her shoulder to burp her.

"You are incredibly good at that," Lane commented as she watched.

"Practice, practice, practice now that mom's back at school this year," she replied casually. Rory knew how fortunate Lorelai was with the timing of the pregnancy. Her second year of business classes had ended a few weeks before Charlie was born and her last year of classes had started just after Charlie had turned 3 months old.

"Good Lord!" Lorelai said after finally hanging up the phone and stalking back into the living room. "Charlie, come see mommy and make her feel better!" she said as she took the baby from Rory. Charlie immediately snuggled down on Lorelai's shoulder with a big yawn, but jumped awake at the sound of a car horn.

"Dad!" Rory said excitedly as she jumped up and rushed to the door. Lorelai rubbed Charlie's back to settle her as she wandered towards the door as well. "Dad!" Rory cried again as she ran out to greet her father.

"Woah! Hold it right there! A lady never runs out to meet a gentleman caller who hasn't been announced," he told her with a smile.

"Sorry," Rory said with a laugh as she came to a halt. "We haven't tamed my wild ways yet."

"Thank God I'm here now," he said with a smile of his own.

"I missed you!" she said as she closed the gap between them and hugged him.

"Me too," he replied.

"Hey," Lorelai called as she wandered over.

"Hey," he said as he headed over to them. "Hey baby," he said quietly to Charlie as he rested a hand on her back before kissing the top of her head. She glanced at him with big eyes but didn't do much else. Lorelai offered him the baby and he took her cautiously. "Hey Charlie," he said as he gave her another kiss. "I demand you stop growing immediately." Charlie studied him for a moment before yawning and pulling her feet up tight under neither her as he finally cradled her against his chest.

"What is this?" Lorelai asked, pointing to the car in her drive way that wasn't hers.

"What? Oh my God, where did this come from?" he asked in mock horror. "Well, I needed a little more space," he explained after Lorelai was done making fun of the car. "Had something big to haul. I believe this belongs to you," he said as he popped the trunk before he heaved a large box out of the trunk.

"The Compact Oxford English Dictionary!" Rory exclaimed as she took it from him. Christopher quickly gave her a magnifying glass as she ran off into the house to begin looking things up.

"And, for the little miss," he said as he pulled a smaller bag out of the trunk as well. "Maybe mom should open this," he said as he handed the bag to Lorelai.

"A Bangles onesie," she said as she pulled it out of the bag.

"Gotta start the education early," he said with a shrug, rubbing the baby's back. "It's a little big. I figured better to buy too big than too small."

"You have been paying attention," she said approvingly while examining the onesie.

"Indeed I have," he said as the conversation quickly slipped back to mocking the car again.

"Work?" Lorelai finally blurted out when Christopher mentioned it.

"You've heard of it."

"Yes, but I didn't think you had."

"I kept getting it mixed up with nap," he explained.

"Wow, so, tell me about the job," she said. Chris launched into the abbreviated version about his days at work before he ushered her into the car. "Yes, but only if you promise we won't go over 25 miles an hour on the motor way," she joked as she followed Chris' instructions to turn on the radio. "Oh my God. George Lucas wishes he had this sound system," she said, keeping the volume high, but not too high because of Charlie. Chris quickly spilled out all the stereo specs.

"In exchange, no passenger-side airbag."

"Ah, so the old Christopher still lives," she smirked as she examined the radio controls again.

"Could you please attenuate the cacophony out here?" Rory asked with a smile as she jogged over to the car.

"Huh?" Lorelai asked, elegantly.

"Turn down the music," she said with a smile as she reached into the car and did just that before dashing back inside to Lane.

"Next time instead of a dictionary, just slip her a crisp twenty," Lorelai suggested, tired of her eldest making her feel dumb.

"Deal," Christopher agreed as they played in the car a while longer before heading in.

* * *

For Rory, the next few days passed in a blur of school, homework and preparations for the ball. When she wasn't at school she was doing home work and when she wasn't doing homework, she was practicing her curtsey or learning to ball room dance or some other horribly useless things that she was only ever going to use this once. Christopher spent most of the week bonding with Charlie while Lorelai spent it trying to deal with her parents. While her mother was throwing herself into this ball with a passion, her father was distant and short with them every time they tried to talk to him about it.

"His perfect angle granddaughter is being presented to society in front of all his friends and colleagues, something he never got to do with his bad, loser, evil daughter," Lorelai had explained one night to Christopher. He suggested she talk to them about things but she bowed out, blaming the late hour before heading up to bed.

When they arrived at the ball room a few days later, Lorelai still hadn't brought anything up with her parents. After sending Rory off with instructions to slide down the banister as her entrance, she headed to the bar. At these events, it was always key to start drinking early and to drink plenty.

"Should you be drinking that?"

"Charlie can survive on that rice cereal and formula for 12 hours," she told him, sampling her martini as they ran into Emily. Lorelai tried to start a conversation about Emily's unavailability the night before, but she brushed her off by rattling off a series of overly critical observations about the state of the ball room before she rushed off to harass some poor woman about the proper height of a taper.

Lorelai stood in the hallway adjacent to the ball room, slightly shocked at the performance she had just seen. Her father, understandably upset about the situation at work, had just caused a very public scene and Emily, always one to get in a jab, dropped one as she left the room to watch Rory.

"That should've been you up there. Nothing's turning out the way it was supposed to," she said as she headed back to the ball room and left Lorelai standing alone, feeling ashamed of herself yet again for being a disappointment. She gathered her self after a moment and headed back to the ball room to watch Rory's ridiculous fan dance and to down another martini. Charlie could survive 24 hours without nursing at this point.

* * *

"Go get a table and order. Me and your dad are gonna head home. I assured Mrs Kim that Lane would be home in 10 minutes," Lorelai said to Rory as Chris brought the car to a stop in front of Luke's.

"You'll be back though, right?" Rory asked her mother a she got out of the jeep.

"Of course," she said. "I'll gather up Charlie, drop Lane off and come join you." Christopher promised Rory coffee in the morning before they said their good nights and parted ways.

"You really came through," Lorelai told Chris as they headed home.

"She deserves it. And when your mother gets her hooks into Charlie, I'll be there too." Lorelai and Christopher both chuckled at that thought and she continued to tell Christopher about how he was welcome to come down on weekends to visit the girls and even stay if he liked it. It was then that he dropped the bomb that he was with some one.

"Sherry from marketing?"

"Sherry from Boston," he corrected and Lorelai now understood what he was doing in Boston. She congratulated him on finally committing to some one but on the inside, she felt her last little bit of hope for them slip away. She sunk back into her seat, staring out the window for the rest of the car ride. Chris glanced over at her for a moment and considered saying something, but he changed his mind. He held the steering wheel a little tighter as he stared straight ahead at the road.

* * *

Lorelai and Chris both put on a relatively happy face as they entered the house. Lane handed the sleepy baby over to Chris so he could say goodnight while Lorelai paid Lane and gathered some supplied.

"The late night snack is something that she needs to learn and get used to. She might as well start now," she said as she tossed the bag over her shoulder and accepted the baby from Chris. He smiled a little at the image she projected with the baby bag, blanket under the baby and her ball gown. "Come on kids," she said to Lane as she quickly strapped Charlie into her car seat and led them out to the car.

"So, back from the ball huh?" Luke asked as Lorelai came into the diner with Charlie, still in her evening gown. She glanced out the window to make sure that Lane had gotten into her house.

"Yes," she said as she sat down at the table and Luke brought her a burger. "I left behind a glass slipper and a business card in case the prince is _really_ dumb."

"Good and desperate thinking," Luke concluded as he carefully avoided the carrier on the floor. Lorelai could tell that he had something he wanted to say about the fact that she had her out so late. She was glad that he held is tongue, given how the rest of her night had played out.

"Thank you," she said before pointing out Jess to Luke. He was dressed in one of Luke's flannel shirts and an old hat as he cleaned tables. Rory and Lorelai snickered at the performance between the two before Luke finally kicked Jess upstairs to change and they turned their attention back to their burgers.

* * *

"They think I'm a loner!" Rory lamented when she found her mother at the desk of the Independence Inn when she got home from school. Life at Chilton had been relatively calm since the Debutante Ball and Rory had fallen into a pleasant routine until her guidance councillor had tapped her on the shoulder at lunch. Things had quickly gone downhill after that.

"Who does?" she asked, half distracted, as she tried to figure out the new systems Michel had come up with while she had been gone.

"Chilton." Lorelai stopped what she was doing and frowned. Rory quickly spilled out the details of her conversation with her guidance councillor and the issues she had raised on behalf of Headmaster Charleston.

"Seriously?" she asked. Rory nodded.

"Where's Charlie?" Rory asked out of the blue, finally realising that her sister was no where to be seen.

"In my office," she pulled out a small monitor from under the desk. "I'll go talk to the Headmaster. This isn't fair! A loner. . . Just because you don't live in Hartford," she said shaking her head before pulling out the phone book to find Chilton's number.

* * *

"A secret society! How exciting!" Lorelai exclaimed in a loud whisper as they found a table at Luke's. The trio was coming in for dinner after a long day spent working and socialising.

"You don't have to whisper about it. It's openly talked about, just openly denied as well," Rory pointed out.

"Chilton just keeps getting more interesting," she remarked as she flagged Luke down.

"How was work?" Luke asked. Rory and Lorelai glanced at each other for a moment. Luke never asked about work unless he was prompted.

"Michel went power mad while I was out," she said as she accepted the coffee cup from him. Her first day back from maternity leave had been a little less than smooth and she was looking forward to Luke's coffee. "This is decaf," she said after she smelled it, more than a little disappointed.

"No it's not," he said. "See, brown top." Luke pointed confidently to the brown top of the pot.

"Decaf. Take it back," she said, pushing the cup towards Luke. They stared each other down for a moment.

"You can't fool the nose," Rory pointed out. Luke rolled his eyes before he stalked off to the counter.

"This?" he asked, offering the other, supposedly decaf, pot of coffee and a clean mug in the other. Lorelai wafted the smell towards her and inhaled deeply.

"Fill it up," Lorelai said with a satisfied smile, pointing to the fresh cup in his hand.

"Jess!" Luke bellowed. "Orange is decaf!" The girls snickered as Luke fell into a classic rant and Jess just sort of stared at him.

* * *

"Come on, come on," she muttered to Charlie as she wrestled her carrier out of the car. She was already running late for this insipid meeting that she really didn't want to go to, but, it was to help get Rory into Harvard so she would put up with it. "You better start freaking out no later than 20 minutes into this meeting. You are my scape goat, don't make me regret bringing you along," she continued to rant to Charlie as she rushed towards the school. "Hi, sorry to interrupt," Lorelai said as she finally wandered into the Booster Club meeting, Charlie cooing away in her carrier.

"It's alright. Can we help you?" One of the women asked as everyone else at the table turned to look at the new comer.

"Uh, yes, actually. . . This is the Booster Club, isn't it?"

"It is."

"I'm Lorelai Gilmore, sorry I'm late," she said as she came over and took a seat, placing Charlie on the floor next to her.

"And who's that little beauty?"

"Oh, that would be Charlie. I guess she's here to boost too," she said with a small smile. After the ladies had finished demanding the she pass the baby around and they had filled her in on what she had missed, the meeting proceeded quite smoothly. Lorelai quickly offered the Inn up as a good place for a fundraiser dinner and the ladies jumped at the chance. As they each wandered their separate ways during the break in the meeting, Ava came over and informed her that they'd be the models in the fashion show.

"By the way, welcome to the Boosters. We're thrilled have you," she said with a large smile before focusing her attention on Charlie for another moment.

"Oh, thanks. That's great."

* * *

The fashion show had gone off mostly without a hitch. After Lorelai had phoned Luke in a panic to come and fix the runway, things had gone smoothly. Fortunately, Charlie had stayed awake through the preparations but had slept right through the fashion show itself.

"What happened to the swarms of people wanting to baby sit for me?" she asked Sookie as she put the carrier on the table by the wall in the kitchen. Sookie shrugged as she took a moment to greet the baby. "Are you sure I can leave her here?"

"Oh yes," Sookie said with a smile. "Everything is pretty much done, I can just sit back and supervise if I have to."

"You can never just sit back and supervise," Lorelai pointed out. Sookie giggled a little as she finally tore herself away from the baby and went back to cooking. Lorelai sighed for a moment before she high tailed it out of the kitchen and got back to work.

The fashion show itself turned out to be not as bad as Lorelai expected it to be and had gone incredibly smoothly and fast, but she was still very, very glad when it was all over and done with. She could have done without the comments from her mother or seeing Anna chatting up Luke from afar. That thing she didn't have for Luke reared its head slightly before she had a chance to repress it again.

"Lucy, we're home!" Lorelai called out as she lugged Charlie and a few other bags into the house.

"In here," Rory called from the couch in the living room. Lorelai dropped the bags by the door before she headed into the living room and put Charlie's carrier down beside the couch and quickly flopped down onto it. "Long day?"

"My mother. And several women who all think like she does," she said as she sat down, still clutching her purse.

"You're holding that purse very tightly," Rory pointed out with a smile. Lorelai sighed a she handed it over.

"I'm too tired to fight with you about this. Be nice," she said as Rory quickly dug out the pictures.

"You look like Nancy Reagan," Rory concluded with a giggle.

"Oh, now how is that nice?" Lorelai asked. Rory shrugged and Lorelai heaved a sigh before she liberated Charlie and headed up to bed, the baby in tow. She threw Rory a warning about the kidnapping as she went. "And tell them that if they wake up your sister, they have to take her too."

"Excuse me?"

"I got a call today from Francie," Lorelai explained as Rory followed her upstairs.

"What?"

"Yes, she said that she and her friends were gonna come in while you're sleeping, wake you up, kidnap you and take you out to breakfast in your pyjamas."

"Why would they do that?" she asked as Lorelai handed the baby.

"Apparently it's fun," she supplied as she took off her heels and dug out a diaper and a pair of sleepers for the baby.

"Well, that doesn't sound fun," Rory said as she handed the baby back.

"She told me to leave a key under the mat and some money on the coffee table," Lorelai replied as she quickly changed the baby for bed.

"And you said yes to this insanity? I can't believe that you are going to let a group of strange girls come traipsing in here and take away your eldest child, your first, precious, baby girl, off to God knows where in the middle of the night."

"Again, if they wake Charlie up, they have to take her too. Also? If it's some place with doughnuts, bring me one, ok?" she asked with a smile as she handed Rory the baby while she pulled out her own pyjamas to change into.

"Fine," Rory said with a resigned sigh as she swayed a little with the baby. She watched as Lorelai came out of the bathroom, took Charlie back and pulled out the modeling pictures again. Rory turned to leave, but quickly returned to snatch them away from her, plucking them quickly from her mothers hands. "Christmas cards!" she said gleefully as she ran down stairs.

"More like your grandmother every day!" she called after Rory as she settled on the bed with Charlie to nurse her to sleep.

* * *

"What the hell!" Lorelai complained as Charlie started to scream after the ringing phone woke her up. "Hello?" she asked as she picked up the phone and balanced it between her ear and shoulder as she picked up Charlie to try and soothe her back to sleep. "What? What about Rory?" she asked, trying to hear the conversation through the static and Charlie crying. "Yes, okay, I'll be right there," she said, hanging up the phone and putting a still crying Charlie back into her crib so she could throw on a pair of jeans. She grabbed her purse and quickly grabbed Charlie and a blanket before dashing downstairs. Charlie was bundled into the car seat and Lorelai quickly dashed them into the car and off to Hartford.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

"What happened? The reception on the phone sucked and all I heard was 'Rory' and 'Chilton' and 'get down here.' Who's butt to I have to kick?" she asked as she made sure Charlie was still snuggled in her blanket. It had been too much of a hassle to drag the carrier in with her, so she had just carried the baby. If her little cowboy outfit hadn't garnered attention Rory's first day, the 4 month old she was carrying certainly did.

"We didn't go to breakfast," Rory said bitterly. "We came here. They broke into the Headmaster's office as the big initiation." Lorelai rolled her eyes and Rory soon spilled out the rest of the story. Her mother quickly seized the opportunity to make fun of the fact that all she was doing was ringing a bell. Rory rolled her eyes and eventually had to simply take off to the car in order to get Lorelai to give it up.

"So, what happens now?' she asked as they drove back to Stars Hollow.

"What do you mean?"

"Are we free of our forced participation in Chilton life?" she asked hopefully.

"One can dream," Rory offered with a yawn as she rested her head against the window, watching the scenery whiz past.

"Remember the three hour rule," Lorelai prompted when she saw that Rory was starting to fall asleep.

"Stop for coffee then," she said with a yawn.

"Can do," she said as she started to look for a place. "We should probably stop for the 6 am feeing too," she said when Charlie started to wake up.

"Let's just live a little and have breakfast somewhere other than Luke's."

"You really are a bad girl. Are your toe nails still painted red?" Lorelai asked with a smile as she found a little place and they pulled in.

* * *

"Oh, hold that thought," Lorelai said to Rory as she heard Charlie start to cry over the baby monitor that was clipped to the waist of her pants. "Well hey there Sleepy Girl. Let's get some coffee," Lorelai muttered as she snuck into her office and scooped up Charlie, who was starting to come around from the still popular afternoon nap, from the small cot in the corner by her desk. Just after she had returned to the kitchen with Charlie and had gotten a cup of coffee in her free hand, Rory was asking her about the Inn's credit card receipts. "Just put down cooking spray and sponges," she said dismissively.

"And when an auditor wants to know why you need such large amounts of cooking spray and sponges?"

"Then I drop my pencil and I put the scoop neck sweater that I'm now making a mental not to wear to good use. These puppies must be good for something now."

"Gross!" Rory said as Sookie giggled. "Oh well, at least you've got a solid well thought out plan." The conversation quickly turned to Sookie's dream about Fran before Michel burst into the kitchen and looked at the women around him.

"I would advise at least pretending to look busy, the boss is here," he said, paying special attention to Lorelai who was swaying with Charlie while drinking a cup of coffee.

"Mia!" Rory exclaimed as she dropped her pencil.

"You're kidding! When?" Lorelai asked excitedly, putting down her coffee mug.

"I just spotted her walking in," he said stiffly as he turned on his heel and left.

"Let's go," Lorelai said excitedly as she followed Rory out to the lobby.

"Mia!" Rory exclaimed as she jogged over to her and threw her arms around the woman. Lorelai arrived not long after, Charlie in her arms, and Mia gathered them into a hug as well.

"Uh! Oh my babies!" She said as they pulled back. "And this little one," she said as Lorelai handed her over.

"Charlotte Abigail," she said with a smile.

"Charlie," Rory threw in. Charlie stared intently at the new person holding her before she was distracted by Mia's brooch.

"She's beautiful," Mia proclaimed, still holding Charlie close. "Hold is she now?"

"5 months on the 1st," Lorelai said proudly. She smoothed down the curls on the back of Charlie's head. Her hair wasn't very long, but it was long enough to get a little tangled after a nap.

"Did we know you were coming?" Rory asked.

"I didn't know I was coming," Mia said happily, still admiring Charlie as she focused on the shininess of the brooch in front of her.

"But in the card you said you would come," Rory pointed out.

"But I didn't say when," Mia said.

"This isn't a surprised inspection is it?" Lorelai asked with a smile.

"That's exactly what this is. Ready?" The girls stood up straight and tall. "Oh, you're too thin as always," she said.

"But we eat!" Rory insisted.

"And you're all too beautiful," Mia concluded as she finished circling the elder Gilmore girls so she could see them from all angles.

"Yes, that's true. We often feel guilty monopolizing the amount of beauty we're in possession of."

"Maybe not Charlie so much," Rory tacked on.

"Oh, she knows it. Those indefinable crying jags? Guilt," Lorelai said confidently as Mia handed Charlie back to her.

"Ah."

"And I don't see you enough which is my fault, so you all pass."

"Aww!" they said as Mia pulled them in for another hug before their attention turned to Michel. When Mia announced that they were going out, Rory took the opportunity to make fun of Michel while Lorelai sprinted to her office to grab Charlie's bag. She got back just in time to hear Rory's parting jab.

"He told you to get out!"

"I did not!" Michel squeaked.

"I don't know what I did to make him hate me," Mia said as she threw her arms over Rory and Lorelai's shoulders as Lorelai cast a grin over her shoulder at the concierge.

* * *

The walk to Luke's was normally a relatively short one from the inn but with Mia and Charlie with them, the walk became significantly longer as everyone and their brother stopped to talk to Mia and coo over how big Charlie was getting After the third person stopped to coo at both of them, Lorelai passed Charlie back to Mia. "This will make the questions and cooing go faster," Lorelai reasoned.

"Luke!" Lorelai called out as they all trooped into the diner. Luke glanced up to cast a glance at them and a smile sprang up on his face when he saw Mia.

"Mia, hey!" Luke said as he came out from behind the counter to hug Mia.

"Nice to see you Lucas," she said warmly as she returned the hug.

"You're the only person in the world who can call me that, Mia," he said seriously.

"I know this."

"I'm saying it for others who plan to try it later," he said as they pulled back, shifting a hard stare between Rory and Lorelai. He accepted Charlie from Mia when she wouldn't let go of his shirt.

"Whatever Lucas," Lorelai made sure to say.

"Mia, you know anything about toasters?"

"Not a damn thing."

"Then sit down and let me get you some coffee," he said with another smile as he headed off to get the cups, nodding towards Jess to bring the coffee pot.

"Does he do that often?" Mia asked, pointing towards Luke and Charlie.

"Mom's gotten him to baby sit a couple of times," Rory said. Mia looked over at Lorelai.

"I also got him to paint the diner a while ago," she said proudly as Luke and Jess came to the table.

"And who's this fine looking gentleman?" Mia asked when she laid eyes on Jess.

"Liz's kid," Luke said. "Jess, this is Mia, she owns the Independence Inn."

"Huh," he said as he poured the coffee.

"That's 'Hello, nice to meet you' in slacker," Luke filled in as he started to make excuses for Jess. Mia quickly brushed him off as she began telling stories about Luke's youth, much to the pleasure of Rory and Lorelai.

"You don't need me down here, do you?" Jess asked as he turned around and quickly left the table. He put the pot back on the element before he headed out the door. The conversation quickly turned to Luke's adventures as a boy, with a brief pause while he went to argue with Taylor over Jess' supposed role in the fake murder in front of his store.

"The yelling doesn't bother her?"

"Nothing bothers her when she's with Luke," Lorelai said. "The diner could be falling in around her and as long as Luke doesn't put her down, she wouldn't even notice."

"Hmmm . . ." Mia said as she looked pointedly at Lorelai.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," she said in that way that always meant there was something. Lorelai looked to Rory who quickly started talking about school until the argument was over. "Ah, I gotta get out of Santa Barbara. I miss the small town theatre. And I miss you. Hey, do you realize it was fifteen years ago almost to the day?"

"Yes it was," Lorelai said fondly.

"What was?" Rory asked eagerly.  
"To the day when this skinny little teenage girl showed up at the inn. She had this tiny little thing in her arms."

"A little thing named Rory!" Lorelai said in the voice she used to engage Charlie as she pinched Rory's cheek.

"Okay, no physical re-enactments," she said, waiving her mother off.

"Here. I don't know why I still have her. I have a toaster to fix," Luke grumbled as he stomped over and handed the baby back to it's mother.

"Uh, thanks," she said as Charlie pouted for a moment before she got a hold of Lorelai's finger and immediately brought it to her mouth.

"You marched up to me, looked me right in the eye and said 'I'm here for a job. Any job.'," Mia said as she smoothed some of Charlie's curls back.

"Well, IBM had turned me down for the CEO slot, so I was desperate," Lorelai replied lightly with a few hand gestures.

"Work experience none, recommendations none, skills. . ."

"Besides flawlessly applying mascara in a moving car, none," Lorelai interrupted.

"Not one thing to recommend hiring her. Just that. . . How do I put it and remain a lady? That 'who cares' look in her eyes, so I gave her any job. The other maids hated you."

"They were all so slow," she said with a shrug.

"You were special," Mia said fondly.

"Mia, why don't you move back here? We miss you," Rory said.

"Or at least visit more? You used to check in. You never come at all."

"I don't have to, You've made me redundant," Mia said happily. As she talked about how glad she was that Lorelai was still at the inn and how well it run now, Rory and Lorelai suddenly felt very small. They hadn't told Mia anything about Lorelai wanting to open an inn with Sookie. "You look sad now, why?"

"Oh, nothing," she said as she quickly extricated her hand from Charlie's grip and took a sip from her coffee mug. Lorelai was feeling incredibly guilty about leaving and not telling Mia that she and Sookie were planning to open their own inn and she had a feeling that Rory was feeling the same thing right now.

* * *

Lorelai sighed as she finally worked up the nerve to talk to Mia about the plans she and Sookie had been hatching in regards to their inn.

"Well, you see, your leaving gives me the perfect excuse to finally sell the place," Mia said as she and Lorelai walked home after the town meeting.

"Sell the place?" she asked, not really believing what she was hearing. Charlie stirred a little in the sling, but didn't wake.

"Oh, I get offers all the time, lucrative ones, but I never even considered it because. . . Oh, of course I love the inn, but I just couldn't do that to you. And now that you have this big change, well another big change, coming up in your life, it might be time for one in mine."

"Oh. Good, uh good," Lorelai said hesitantly. "Then it all works out good."

"Actually, it's very good!"

"Okay. Well. . . Good," she said, forcing a smile for Mia's benefit as she found herself pulling Charlie slightly closer. She still felt ridiculously guilty about everything.

* * *

"Hello, can I help you?" Mia asked as few days later as she saw a rather lost looking woman wander into the lobby of the inn.

"No, thank you. I just. . . "

"Yes?" Mia asked.

"I just wanted to meet the woman who helped raise my daughter."

"Emily," Mia said after a moment. "I've wanted to meet you too for a very long time," she said.

"Well, that's nice," Emily said with that fake politeness that took years of practice.

"Would you like to sit down? Or have something to eat? Have lunch with me, won't you?" she asked, trying to make this easier for both of them.

"No, thank you. You have a lovely place here. It's a beautiful hotel. It's not a home, but still, a beautiful hotel," Emily remarked, looking around, grasping at any straw that would make things slightly more comfortable.

"Sometimes home is where your hat is."

"Or where your family is," Emily countered firmly.

"Yes, that too. You sure you don't want some tea? Tea usually makes things like this a little less awkward. There's things to hold and stir," she said with a small smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't know why I came here," Emily said.

"You wanted to meet me," Mia said.

"After all these years, it makes no sense."

"I expected you to come eventually," Mia admitted.

"Did you? And what did you expect to say to me when I did come?" Emily asked, expecting a fight.

"When Lorelai showed up on my porch that day with a tiny baby in her arms I thought to myself, what if this were my daughter, and she was cold and scared and needed a place to live? What would I want for her? And then I thought, I'd want her to find somebody to take her in and make her feel safe and help her find her way," Mia answered truthfully.

"That's funny. I would've wanted her to find some one to send her home," Emily snapped back. "I have to go," she said, turning towards the door slightly. "I'd appreciate if you didn't mention this to Lorelai."

"I won't," Mia said softly as she watched Emily march towards the door.

"Do you have pictures, from back then?" she asked after stopping at the door. Her voice quivered, almost like she might cry.

"I'll send you a box full tomorrow," Mia responded with a small smile.

"Thank you," she said as she finally left the inn.

* * *

Lorelai stayed sombre for several days after Mia left. She still felt guilty about leaving the inn and the fight she had with Sookie, even though both had said everything was fine again. She began wishing for snow to hurry up and come to Stars Hollow. Everything would be fine when the snow came but fall clung stubbornly to the world, the grass was dead and brown and the air was cold but still the snow didn't come.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked as she peaked into the bathroom one night.

"Nothing," Lorelai replied as she offered Charlie the rubber duck to play with in exchange for the wash cloth the baby was currently sucking on.

"You haven't cracked a smile once. You love giving Charlie a bath," Rory said as she closed the lid on the toilet and sat down. "You're not still upset about the whole inn thing, are you?"

"There's no snow," she said with a sigh as she rinsed the wash cloth and hung it over the faucet to keep it away from Charlie. "It's December first tomorrow and there is no snow."

"It's been cooler this year than normal. It'll come," Rory assured her as she grabbed the towel Lorelai had laid out for the baby.

"I know," she said with a sigh as she quickly washed Charlie's hair. "Towel," she finally said after a long pause. Rory handed it over and watched as he mother quickly finagled the towel over her shoulder without letting got of Charlie. "Come on my little water baby," she said with a smile as she lifted Charlie out and wrapped her in the towel before leaving the room. Rory quickly tossed the bath toys into the sink to let them drain before she pulled the plug and followed Lorelai.

"Is there anything else?" she asked as she sat down on the bed.

"Just something Sookie said to me the other night after your Shakespeare thing," she said as she dried Charlie off and dressed her for bed. "It's nothing," she said as she offered Rory a smile. "Really."

"Okay," she said after a moment. "Night Charlie," Rory added as she dropped a kiss on Charlie's forehead, smoothing some of her fly away curls down before she slid off the bed and headed downstairs to study for a while.

* * *

"Happy first half birthday little girl," Lorelai muttered as she leaned over the crib at exactly 2:07am on December 1st. Charlie blinked up at her for a moment before she started to fuss. Lorelai scooped her up, grabbed the pacifier out of the crib and headed back to bed, baby in her arms. "You're supposed to be asleep so I can wake you up," she whispered as she tucked them both in under her covers. "I hope you've had a fantastic half year already," she whispered as she played with Charlie's hands and smiled as she listened to the baby snuffle a little as she sucked on the pacifier. "Because we have definitely had a super fantastic half year with you."

Charlie replied to all of this with a little grunt, kicking her feet a little.

"I swear that there will be snow on the ground before Christmas rolls around," she assured Charlie with a yawn as they both started to drift off.

* * *

"I know, I know," Lorelai muttered a few nights later as she pulled herself out of bed to get Charlie. While she had been sleeping through the night, for the most part, for the last month or so, with the Bracebridge dinner coming up, her schedule had been disrupted. "Come on Sweets," she said quietly as she scooped the 6 month old up and held her close. She grabbed a couple of warm blankets and headed down to the living room.

Lorelai cracked open the window in the living room before she settled herself and Charlie on the couch, quickly building a little nest for them in the blankets. "Snow," she whispered to the baby as she began to nurse. "And snow is a wonderful thing, It means winter is finally here and with it, a whole new set of cute little outfits." She continued to mutter all about snow to Charlie until Rory came out of her room.

"Mom?" she asked as she glanced over at them before going to the window.

"Stop. Close your eyes and breath. Smell it?" Lorelai asked.

"No," Rory said. "Snow is to you as high pitched whistles are to dogs," Rory muttered as she grabbed a blanket off the couch and came to sit beside Lorelai. "I thought she was past this whole waking up in the middle of the night thing."

"Things are crazy for us," she said. "With the Bracebridge dinner and her still trying to cut the three naps into two. . . We're having some transitional issues."

"Ah," Rory said as she sleepily rested her head against Lorelai's shoulder.

"It's gonna snow tomorrow, pack your boots before you head to school," she said quietly. Rory smiled a little at this. She thought it was cute that her mother could so easily switch from mothering Charlie to mothering her again.

"Okay," she said with a yawn. "Hey, Charlie's first snow."

"Charlie's first Christmas," Lorelai added.

"Sneak her hot chocolate?"

"Make sure Luke sees us when we do it," she added with a giggle that Rory joined in on. They fell into silence for a moment as they enjoyed the impending snow fall

"How much longer are you two going to be up?"

"A bit," she said. "We'll close the window when we're done."

"Ok. Night," Rory said, dropping a kiss on Lorelai's cheek.

"Night kid," she said as Rory tossed the blanket over her shoulders, adding to the layers they were under. As Rory disappeared back into her room, Lorelai turned her attention back to the baby and began spilling out more of the wonderful things snow brought.

Sure enough, when they awoke the next morning it was already beginning to snow.

"This is the best part of winter," Lorelai said as she bundled Charlie up. "Well, maybe not the whole 8 zillion layers for you. This means you can't put your own arms down Randy," she said with a smile as she plunked the wildly colourful hat Lane had bought for Charlie on her head and put on her own coat. "Welcome to winter Charlie," she said as she finally got the baby outside in the snow. Lorelai brushed one of the stairs on the porch off and sat down, helping Charlie stand between her knees and smiling as Charlie tried valiantly to grab at the snow flakes even though she really couldn't move her arms.

"What on earth are you two doing?" Rory asked as she came out of the house, bundled up for her walk to the bus stop.

"We're greeting winter and trying to grab snowflakes. Get down here," she said to Rory as she grabbed her coat sleeve. Charlie immediately moved her gaze from the open sky to the snow flakes that were clinging to Rory's pea coat. Charlie bounced a little in excitement as she looked at Rory's coat and tried to turn and catch a glimpse of Lorelai.

"I've gotta run. The bus tends to run early the first couple of snows. Have fun!" she called to them as she extracted herself from her mother and sister and took off towards town. Charlie and Lorelai watched Rory disappear around the corner before they went back to the snow.

It continued to snow on and off all week and by the time Rory finished school for the year, there was enough snow on the ground for a snowman building contest.

"Please Luke?" Lorelai begged. "Just for an hour so me and Rory can do this." It wasn't lost on him that she was holding Charlie, face out and towards him.

"You want me to watch your kid," he pointed at Charlie. "So you and your other kid can go and build a snowman?" he asked, pointing to Rory while looking Lorelai in the eyes.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"For glory and honour!" Rory said.

"Yeah, and a set of quarters," Lorelai added. "Hey, you never know when you're going to need quarters. You might one day find yourself with a pressing need to use a pay phone and then darn, if only you had won that snowman building contest!"

"Fine," he grumbled as he pointed towards the high chair in the corner that had recently become a fixture in the diner. While Luke wouldn't come out and admit it, everyone in town was fairly certain he had bought it for Charlie.

"Go get us a good spot and start making the body," she said as Rory gabbed their bucket of supplies and hurried of into the square. Lorelai quickly divested Charlie of her snowsuit from the waist up and set her up in the chair with a few toys.

"On strings?" Luke asked when he stepped over to see what was taking so long.

"Plastic chains," she clarified. "This way, they never actually make it to the floor or get lost. Don't forget," she started as she handed Luke the bag.

"Warm it up a little and make sure it's not too hot. I've been doing this long enough to remember, thanks."

"Just checking," she said. "Holler if you need us!" she said with a smile as she ran out to join Rory. Luke shook his head as he watched her go before casting a glance down at Charlie. She looked up at him and smiled, kicking her feet, as she reached for one of the toys her mother had left. Luke couldn't help but smile before he headed back to work.

* * *

"You weren't even gone an hour and you're back already?" he asked when Lorelai and Rory came back into the diner, cold and wet.

"We weren't even gone an hour and you're already carrying her around?" Lorelai asked as she and Rory headed to the table in the back.

"It was just easier this way," he said with a shrug.

"And when did you get your own sling?" Lorelai asked, slightly in disbelief, as she pointed towards the blue sling around his neck.

"About the same time you made me your defacto babysitter. I should really start charging you," he pointed out as he gave the baby back to Lorelai. "What do you want?"

"It didn't come in plaid?" Lorelai asked with a smirk as she finally got the last of her extra layers off and sat down, finally accepting Charlie from Luke.

"No. What do you want?"

"Coffee and hot chocolate," Rory said.

"Together or separate?"

"Ooh," Lorelai said as she and Rory looked at each other across the table. "Together," she said.

"Yeah, together," Rory said. "I love it when we leave her with him. He's always so friendly after."

"Well, who couldn't be friendly after spending time with this little angel?" Lorelai asked as she lifted Charlie above her head. The little girl let out a big laugh that her mother and sister couldn't help but return.

"What are we going to do about the Christmas tree?" Rory asked.

"Set it up a couple of weeks before Christmas like we always do?" Lorelai asked as she sat Charlie on the edge of the table and made faces at her.

"I mean, with her around. She's discovered that rolling can get her around the floor and weren't you saying you were sure she was getting ready to crawl?"

"Point Rory?" she asked, glancing at Rory over Charlie's head.

"What are we going to do about the tree? The decorations? Her hobby of putting _everything_ in her mouth?" Rory asked, beginning to gesture wildly as her brain got a head of her as she imagined all the possibilities.

"We could go back to the sad mini-loser tree I used when you were a baby," she said casually. "Or, we could just, you know, keep an eye on her." Lorelai focused her attention on Rory for a moment and Charlie worked to do the same.

"Ugh, she's a fountain today," Rory remarked, changing the subject.

"About that time," Lorelai said with a sigh as she kicked Rory the bag. "Teeth my dear, teeth!" she said at Rory's confused look while digging around for either a bib or a blanket.

"We really need to clean this thing out at some point," Rory said as she wrinkled her nose in disgust as she ended up touching some rather unsavoury things in the bag.

"I volunteer you to do it," her mother said with a smile as she accepted the blanket and cleaned Charlie's chin off. "Oh, okay, you hang on to that," she said as Charlie grabbed the blanket in her fist and stuck the end in her mouth to chew on.

"What did I say about butts on the table?" Luke asked as he brought their drinks over.

"Only if they're cute and adorable?" Lorelai asked as she smiled sweetly while she and Charlie looked up at Luke.

"No butts on the table." he said, pointing a finger at them before walking off.

"Picky picky," Lorelai said as she moved Charlie to her lap.

"Here," he said, bringing over a mug with little more than a coating of hot chocolate in the bottom. "I know you're gonna give it to her, so she might as well have straight, luke warm chocolate." He shook his head and walked off while the girls looked at each other.

"I'm a little scared," Rory said.

"Me too," Lorelai replied as they both cast a glance at Luke's back before turning to their drinks.

* * *

Luke and Jess watched as Sookie, Lorelai and Rory all came into the diner, Lorelai of course had Charlie with her and they all looked depressed. Luke and Jess finished tending to a few other customers before Luke came over to their table.

"Ever worry that she's going to have separation issues?" Luke asked her as he came over to take their orders.

"Not really. I spent more time than this with Rory when she was a baby." They all ordered coffee before they started sulking about the Bracebridge dinner. "Hey, you know what?" Lorelai asked after a minute. "Let's invite everyone."

"Everyone who?" Sookie asked. Luke hung around the table, he suddenly had a vested interest in this conversation.

"Everyone everyone. Everyone we know, everyone we like," Lorelai exclaimed, a large smile starting to spread on her face as the idea started to take off.

"And they could even stay in the inn. All those empty rooms, all those uneaten pillow mints," Rory added, smiling as well as she started to figure out where her mother was going with all of this.

"An out of control, over the top slumber party!" Lorelai said excitedly, knowing that every one else was starting to catch on and get enthusiastic about it as well.

"I love it!" Sookie exclaimed.

"Done!" Lorelai exclaimed. Luke was mildly impressed that Lorelai's random out bursts didn't bother Charlie at all. "Spread the word."

"I haven't said I'd come yet so I'm certainly not gonna suddenly become your messenger boy." Lorelai stared at him for a long minute. "Eight o'clock?" he finally asked, sounding slightly defeated.

"Seven," she clarified.

"Right," he said as he walked away and shot a look at Jess who was standing behind the counter, snickering about the whole performance.

* * *

Another favourite Gilmore ritual was taking place that same day: Christmas card picture mocking.

"Okay, I feel kind of dirty making fun of these babies," Rory said after a minute of making fun of the pictures of ugly babies people had sent on Christmas cards.

"Because it's so easy?" Lorelai asked, not looking up from the list she was working on.

"Because we have Charlie. She wasn't exactly all that photogenic at one point in time," Rory said as she gestured towards the baby on the floor.

"Ah, and that's why I wouldn't hand my mother a photo of her until she was. Mock away, our baby is adorable now." Rory considered this for a moment as she looked at Charlie who was still playing on the floor. Now that she could sit up by herself, a whole new world had opened up for her.

"I guess you're right," she agreed after a moment. "What do you think?" she asked Charlie, showing her one of the pictures. Charlie glanced at it, cocking her head to the side before she blew a raspberry at it and went back to her toys. Lorelai and Rory took a moment to have a good laugh about that performance before they went back to the firming up of room assignments.

* * *

By the end of the week, Rory, Lorelai and Charlie stood in the lobby of the Independence Inn greeting the people of Stars Hollow who were coming for the dinner.

"A robot, she's a robot," Lorelai muttered when she saw Paris show up to drop off paper things for Rory. "Take her for a bit," Lorelai said, taking the clip board from Rory and passing the baby to her. It was hard to be authoritative with Rune with a baby in her arms. "Hi," she said to Paris as she beat a hasty exit.

"What's this?" Paris asked as she and Charlie sized each other up.

"My sister, Charlie," Rory volunteered, adjusting Charlie's bib to keep her and her sister as drool free as possible. "So?"

"When did you get a sister?"

"June first," she supplied. "So?" she asked again.

"I don't ever remember seeing your mother pregnant."

"You obviously weren't paying attention. She was most definitely pregnant when we went to The Bangles concert. Come on Paris," she complained. Paris eyed the Gilmore Girls for a moment.

"So here are the materials in the double issue. Some of the articles are gonna need complete rewrites," Paris said as she opened the folder and pointed things out to Rory while she kept Charlie for getting a hold of any of the papers, much to the baby's frustration.

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" Rory asked when they were all done discussing the paper.

"Here?"

"Yeah," Rory said with a smile as she explained the evening to Paris.

"I have to make a call."

"Good, make it," she said as she shifted Charlie from one hip to the other. Just as Rory got through telling her mother that Paris would be staying, Lorelai's parents showed up. They both tried to cover their confusion as Richard greeted them in an extremely pleasant manner before he took their bags up to their room. Emily quickly liberated Charlie from Rory and Lorelai was again shocked that there were no quips about the fact that Charlie's bib clashes with her dress.

"I don't know," Emily responded to Lorelai and Rory's questions about what was up with Richard. "He's been that way for two days. I have no idea why but I'm taking the credit." They all agreed that she should.

* * *

"Oh come on Luke," Lorelai all but wined at him. He rolled his eyes and finally climbed into the sleigh with her and Charlie. He tried not to focus on her satisfied grin as he spread the blanket over himself.

"Can she see anything in that get up?" Luke asked as he caught a glimpse of Charlie's face, hidden behind a scarf and hat. Her reached out and adjusted things and he could actually see her eyes.

"Apparently she can now," Lorelai said. "So, I've gotta ask, why?"

"Why what?" he asked as he accepted the baby from her since Charlie was leaning towards him. He helped her stand against his shoulder so she could watch the world go by.

"Why are you always so willing with her? I seem to remember a jam hands speech some where along the line that would definitely give the impression that you don't enjoy kids under the age of 15. In fact, I remember you freaking out about Jess and he is most definitely over the age of 15," Lorelai pointed out, shifting in the sleigh so she could look at him more directly.

"She's different," he answered simply, tucking her under the blanket when she plopped down on his lap.

"_Why_ Luke?" she asked again, not really understanding why he was avoiding this. At the very least, she had expected some kind of sarcastic reply from him.

"Because she's your kid," he finally answered. She looked at him and blinked a few times, not sure how to respond to that. "And I always got along fine with Rory."

"Rory was 10 the first time you met her," she said, still not exactly sure how the simple fact that Charlie was hers made her different from other kids.

"Look," he said as he finally looked her in the eye. "If I ask you to just not question it, will you just not question it? I like her. She likes me. We're good."

"Sure, you're right," she said as she watched him for a moment longer before turning the conversation towards what the town looked like at night, covered in snow. In the mean time, her mind was racing as she tried to figure out exactly why it was so important for her to figure Luke out.

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

Okay, I know I said Lorelai and Max broke up a few chapters ago, but that was a typo. Apologies.

* * *

Lorelai and Rory watched as Emily, in her robe, stalked out of the room to go for a walk. Lorelai had a feeling that Emily was going off to sulk on her own for a bit and she also had a sinking feeling that all of this would some how come up to bite her on the ass at the next Friday night dinner.

"You're quiet," Rory commented after Emily had left the room to go for her walk, finally breaking the silence.

"Just thinking," she said as she checked on Charlie, who was fast asleep in one of the play pens they had stashed at the inn for families.

"About?" Rory asked as she crawled into bed.

"You've heard Luke's jam hands rant, right?" Lorelai asked as she took off her robe and crawled in beside Rory.

"Yeah, who hasn't?" Rory asked as she sat up in bed.

"Do you ever think it strange that as he's giving that lecture one minute, he's waltzing around the diner with Charlie the next?" Lorelai asked as she fussed with the blankets on the bed and the pillows behind her. "Well?" she asked after Rory had been quiet for a long moment.

"I think Luke has a thing for you," Rory said, not looking at her mother.

"Oh not you too," she said dramatically. "Sookie and mom will not stop going on about this 'thing' Luke has for me either."

"Well, isn't it possible that we're right?"

"No, Rory. No way. Go to sleep," she said, laying down and trying to end the conversation.

"Why is it so hard to believe?" Rory asked as she got up on her knees to lean over Lorelai to try and convince you to keep talking. "And would it be so bad if he does have a thing for you?"

"Because it's Luke!" she said, like that should explain everything, giving Rory a slight push away from her as she rolled over. This conversation was obviously not going to disappear quietly into the night. "We'd starve if anything ever happened and we couldn't go to Luke's. Beside that, there's Max."

"And this would be the same Max that you've been avoiding phone calls from for the last 3 weeks?" Rory asked. Mr. Medina had actually gone so far as to ask her if her mother was getting the messages. Lorelai sighed, she had been delaying with Max and she knew it. She did like him and she knew Rory liked him, but Charlie was indifferent to him, probably because he was rather indifferent to her. She was also starting to put more stock in what everyone was saying about her and Luke. She even found her self comparing Max to Luke on occasion, mostly where Charlie was concerned.

"I know," she finally answered with a sigh.

"You know what?" Rory asked.

"That he needs to go," Lorelai confirmed as she sat up in bed, smoothing the covers slightly. And, I think I may have a thing for Luke," she finally admitted, looking everywhere but at Rory.

"What?" Rory demanded. "Are you serious?"

"Keep your voice down!" she hissed and they fell into an abrupt silence as they waited to see if Charlie would wake. She snuffled and rolled over, but didn't wake up. "I said I think, I'm not sure," she said softly. "Maybe, maybe I've just gotten this in my head because you and Sookie and mom and everyone else takes every opportunity they have to point out that Luke has a thing."

"Maybe it's because of the way he acts around Charlie?" Rory finally asked, figuring out where her mother was coming from. She was also pretty sure that her mother was working on talking herself out of whatever it was she was feeling.

"Probably," she said as she thought about it a little longer. "Don't say anything about this, ok?"

"Lips are sealed," Rory promised as she glanced over at her mother. "Night?"

"Night," she said as they both snuggled down under the covers. Lorelai lay awake in bed for a long time after she had said good night to Rory. While she rationalised that she was waiting to see if Charlie was going to wake in the middle of the night like she had for the past few, she knew she was really still awake because her mind would not stop thinking about Luke. He was good to Charlie and Rory and to her and she knew that that affected how she felt about him. She also knew that she really wasn't sure about things. Was she convincing herself she had a thing for him because everyone said he had one for her? Was this because of how he acted around Charlie? How he took care of the three of them? She sighed as she realised that Rory had drifted off and she shook her head, willing the sound of her kids' breathing to lull her to sleep as well.

* * *

"Hey," Rory said tentatively the next morning, early enough for the first few rays of sun to be filtering through the curtains. She watched as Lorelai finished morning diapering ritual.

"Hey," Lorelai said softly with a smile as she deposited a half awake Charlie on the bed with Rory.

"About last night," she started.

"Don't worry about it," Lorelai said. "I was tired and stressed and worried about mom and dad. . . It's fine now."

"You sure?" Rory asked as she pulled Charlie onto her lap.

"Very. I'm gonna shower, keep an eye on her?" she asked as she dug out a change of clothes from her luggage.

"Always," she said with a smile, glad there was nothing hanging around from last night.

* * *

Lorelai had been thinking about what to do about Max since the conversation she'd had with Rory while they were at the Independence Inn. Several people had commented that she was distracted but she had blown them off. She had finally decided that she was going to have a rather cool phone conversation with him and drop off the few things of his that she had acquired off at his place a few days later. As she sat in her second favourite coffee shop after her business class, she was mapping out the conversation she was going to have with Max in her head. 

"Hey, I've been calling your place, you never answer," Max said as he ran into Lorelai at a coffee shop before her Thursday business class. Lorelai jumped a little in her seat, surprised to hear his voice.

"Things have been crazy," she said after she got herself back under control. "We had a huge dinner at the inn and Charlie is starting to discover that she's mobile and Rory is, well, Rory. . . It's been a nut house and with Christmas coming up, my mother is going all out this year. She kind of missed the first Christmas Rory would be any fun so she really wants to make good with Charlie."

"So you've just been busy? Nothing horrible has happened to any of you? No flesh eating monkeys?"

"Nope. The flesh eating monkeys did show up but we locked the door and played some Enya and they ran away screeching," she said with a smile that he returned. "We're all fine. How are you?" Lorelai asked, playing with the rim of her coffee mug.

"I'm good too. Busy with all the marking of exams and final essays, but good. I was wondering something," he said, playing with the rim of his own mug.

"Are you happy with this relationship?" she blurted out. Her plan for the phone call/box drop was already shot to hell, so she might as well just get this over with.

"Okay, not what I was wondering," he said after a moment. "I don't see you as much as I'd like, but yes, I'm happy."

"I mean really happy. So happy you day dream about this fabulous, happy relationship?" He considered it for a moment.

"No," he said finally. "I don't."

"Neither do I," she admitted. They looked at each other for a long moment.

"So that's it?"

"Do you want something more? I could throw this coffee at you, it's kind of cold and not very tasty," she suggested with a smile.

"No, I don't really think you need to do that," he said as he pulled the mug away from Lorelai. "It was fun while it lasted."

"It was fun," she said as folded her hands on the counter in front of her. With her coffee cup gone, she didn't really know what else to do with them.

"I guess I'll see you around," he said as he pushed away from the counter.

"Oh, the Booster Club has sucked me in, I'll be around," she assured him with a tight smile. Max bid her farewell once again and left the coffee shop. She pulled her mug back in front of her and stared at the last mouth full of coffee in her mug before she finally downed it and pushed away from the counter herself, grabbing her book bag and heading to car. She had to pick up Charlie before Emily started to call, demanding to know where Lorelai was.

That odd weight that had been on her shoulders for the last week or so also seemed to have disappeared.

* * *

"So what? That's it?" Lorelai asked. She had told Rory that she had broken up with Max and she hadn't gotten much of a reaction.

"Were you expecting a song and dance number? Or did you want me to burst into tears, going on and on about how unfortunate it was?" she asked, glancing up from her home work.

"I don't know," Lorelai said with a shrug as she tied her hair back. "I just expected something more than 'oh, that's too bad.'."

"Wanna start again? I'll give a more appropriate reaction."

"No," she said with a sigh as she and Charlie sized each other up. "I'm okay. I am glad that you didn't jump up and down in joy."

"Why would I do that?" Rory asked, slightly insulted that Lorelai would even think she'd do something like that.

"I know you didn't really like me dating Max," she said as she grabbed a fork, small plastic spoon, bowl and a banana.

"But I love you and I want you to be happy. If being with Max mad you happy, I would have gotten used to it."

"You are my very favourite daughter," Lorelai said with a smile. Rory returned it as she started to get wise as to what was going on in front of her.

"Should I move?" she asked as she watched her mother peel a banana. "I mean, if the mashed potatoes could make it half way across the kitchen, I'd really hate to see how far mashed banana can make it." Lorelai glanced over at Rory and judged the distance.

"You'll be fine," she said with a slightly dismissive wave of her hand. "Notice how she facing away from you?" she asked as she proceeded to mash half the banana. Charlie watched the whole process while chewing on a finger.

"Very considerate," she said as she stood her text book up in front of her like a wall. Though she did peak over it to watch the performance. Lorelai shook her head at Rory before she took a deep breath and turned her attention to her youngest.

"Okay, are you ready?" Lorelai asked before she gave Charlie some of the banana. There was a long pause as the baby rolled it around in her mouth before spitting it back out. Charlie made a face for a while but soon went back to her finger. Rory sat giggling behind her text book. "You are going to eat solid food Missy," Lorelai assured her as she prepared another spoonful. "I can understand the whole being grossed out by rice cereal, I mean, Rory didn't like it either but a banana? It's about as close to candy as you're gonna get right now."

"Maybe it's the texture," Rory supplied when Charlie rejected the second spoonful as well. "Why not give her an unmashed piece?"

"Okay, that fancy school apparently isn't teaching you all the right things. She doesn't have any teeth yet." Rory rolled her eyes a little.

"Banana's are soft enough, especially that one." Lorelai looked between her girls for a moment before breaking off a whole piece of banana and offering it to the baby. Charlie stared at it for a moment before opening her mouth and taking it.

"Pain in my butt, the two of you," she said with a head shake as Charlie finally accepted a piece of solid food and Rory snickered away behind her text book.

"You didn't break up with Mr. Medina because of Luke, did you?" Rory asked cautiously when the only real sounds in the room were Charlie and Lorelai talking to each other.

"What? No," she said as she tried some of the mashed banana again. She didn't really have time to sit and watch Charlie to make sure she didn't choke to death on banana pieces. The baby finally took it this time. "It just. . . It wasn't there and I don't think he liked Charlie as much as he let on."

"How can you tell? They were barely around each other."

"Well, there's that little fact," she pointed out as she continued to feed the baby. "She's also hit that point where you can tell who she likes and who she doesn't and she never had much of a reaction to him."

"Compared to her reactions to?"

"Everyone," Lorelai said. "Emily, Richard, Sookie, Patty. . . " Rory bit her tongue. She was tempted to throw Luke into that mix, but she didn't.

"Gotcha," she replied instead, finally starting to concentrate on her homework.

"So, what about your love life?" Lorelai asked casually. Rory's head snapped up at that.

"What about it?" she asked cautiously.

"Anything going on with it? Or did you just give up after Dean?"

"I did not give up after Dean. I just haven't really met any one," Rory said quietly, beginning to fidget in her seat a little.

"At all? Rory you go to a school with a few hundred kids, how could you not meet anyone?" Lorelai asked, amazed that such a thing would come out of Rory's mouth. "You're also in your second year there. Are you telling me that you have not met anyone but Paris, Louise, Madeline and Tristan?" Rory sighed.

"I've met people other than them," she admitted.

"So?"

"Just because you no longer have a love life to speak of doesn't mean you need to pry into mine, or lack there of," she said as she gathered her books. "So just you never mind Missy," she finished, heading into her room to study.

"So, there is someone special?" Lorelai called out with a smile on her face.

"Go away!" Rory called as she shut her door. Lorelai chuckled to herself as she turned all of her attention back to Charlie. "So, what? You're done with me too? Fine," she said with a sigh as she cleaned the baby up. "Get lost," she said as she took her from the high chair and sat her on the floor. Lorelai picked up a handful of toys that seemed to be on the counter and dropped them in front of her too before she cleaned up and pulled out her own books to study.

* * *

"Remind me again why you're changing her in the car," Rory asked as she leaned over her seat to watch her mother wrestle Charlie into a pair of tights.

"I'm doing this now because between the car seat and the snuggly bag, did we ever decide on a name for this thing?"

"No," Rory confirmed. "Keep going."

"Because between the car seat and snuggly, she will come out looking like one giant wrinkle," she said, some what distractedly as she moved o to pulling a dress over Charlie's head and doing up the buttons in the back. "This way, she comes out looking perfect, or close to, by Emily's standards.

"I see," Rory said as watched Lorelai wrestle a small clip into Charlie's hair after putting on a pair of black leather slippers on her feet.

"Let's go," Lorelai said. Rory slipped out and pulled the seat back so Lorelai could slip out with Charlie, safely tucked back into the car seat. "Go ring the pretty bell."

"You're late," Emily said as she flung open the door.

"Hi mom," Lorelai said with a smile as they came in. "Here," she said as she freed Charlie from her seat.

"Just darling!" Emily exclaimed when Lorelai handed Charlie over to her at their Christmas party. Charlie eyed her grandmother before her eyes settled on Emily's necklace.

"Watch the jewellery mom," Lorelai warned as the maid took her coat as well as Rory's and the carrier. Emily kept Charlie's little hands under control as she headed to the living room to show the baby off. "Man, I totally should have had another kid sooner," she whispered to Rory. "Absolutely nothing said about us forgetting to RSVP or the fact that I'm wearing a pant suit this year." Rory chuckled as they joined everyone else in the living room.

"Hi Grandpa," Rory said brightly as she gave him a hug. Lorelai watched as Rory was quickly rushed off to his study to see some rare book he had just gotten his hands on. Lorelai took a seat on one of the couches and accepted the soda from her mother as she watched Charlie being passed around the room to all the guests. By the time she finally got her back, Charlie was looking for something to eat which was extremely convenient for Lorelai since she was ready to escape the craziness for a while.

* * *

After the dinner guests had left, Emily turned to Lorelai.

"You forgot to RSVP," she pointed out. "You also seem to be wearing pants. Did you not have time to change after work?" she asked.

"Sorry mom," was all she said as she kept Charlie from dropping her cookie on the carpet or the couch.

"I'm sure you are," she said, not believing it for a minute. "Here," she said as she handed a gift to Rory and two to Lorelai, one of which was for Charlie. Rory gushed over her new books from her grandparents and, typical of a baby, Charlie was already happier with the box than the pull toy and book that had been in it.

"They're really great," Lorelai assured them as she tried to turn Charlie's attention to them.

"Don't worry, I remember Rory doing the same thing until she was about three," Emily said with a sad smile. Lorelai quickly opened her own gift ("A slightly pornographic statue," Lorelai said when she saw it. "To go with your slightly pornographic monkey lamp," Emily had replied.) and thanked them for it as well. Not long after this, Charlie's eyes began to droop and the Gilmore Girls packed up and left.

"It was good this year," Rory said as they all buckled in.

"It was," Lorelai agreed with a smile. "Of course, you know next year will be like it always is."

"Of course," Rory said with a sigh.

* * *

Charlie's first Christmas at home was an entirely different matter. This tree was wildly decorated with multicoloured lights and a paper chain as well as all the decorations Lorelai and Rory had ever made for the tree and a healthy smattering of store bought ornaments as well.

Charlie had sat, wide eyed, in her mother's arms when she had first seen it and since then had spent every waking moment trying to figure out how to get a hold of something, anything, on the tree so she could put it in her mouth.

"Merry Christmas little girl," Lorelai murmured to Charlie when she woke up on Christmas day. She carried the baby back to bed with her and the pair had a quiet moment, like she'd often had with Rory when she was a baby. After a while, Rory came up and joined them.

"How can you be so calm about this? Usually you're dragging me out of bed," Rory commented as she crawled into bed next Lorelai and Charlie.

"This is her first Christmas," she said. "It should be savoured and dragged out. We did this your second Christmas," she told Rory with a smile. "We were both too tired to really enjoy your first Christmas. We laid in bed, ignoring the maids until my mother finally came up and pounded on the door, demanding that we grace her and my father with our presence."

"Was it a good Christmas? My first?" Rory asked quietly, but eagerly as she stroked Charlie's head.

"Emily was in her element," Lorelai replied. "She bought you mostly clothes and everything she bought you was in triplicate. Same style, different colours and I remember being so thankful she had done that because it meant I had just saved about $200 for when we left."

"You knew we were going to leave that early?" Rory asked as she offered Charlie a hand to play with.

"I had an idea. I knew I needed to pack you up and leave, that we needed our own place away from Emily. She was already trying to raise you, contradicting what I did with you, altering the schedule I had set up for us. . ." Lorelai shook her head as Charlie began to pull herself up onto Lorelai's chest. She paused the story as she helped her get situated. "That was also when my dad started to give me $150 a month for you."

"That's not a lot," Rory said.

"It was plenty. My mother had him convinced that I needed it for diapers and formula."

"No formula."

"Nope, so I put a little away every month," she said. "And Emily took it upon herself to make sure you were properly dressed since I could barely dress myself, so all your clothes were paid for."

"So, Grandma and Grandpa basically funded our running away?" Rory asked, slightly in disbelief.  
"They helped. I saved every little bit of money I got for my birthday and yours and any other time one of my parents friends handed me an envelope," Lorelai replied with a sad smile as she tried to smooth some of Charlie's curls. "Okay, I'm sad, we need to do something about this."

"Presents?" Rory asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Let's go!" Lorelai said with a smile of her own as she followed Rory down the stairs, Charlie in her arms. "Look at that kiddo, Santa was here," she whispered to Charlie. Charlie yawned, not particularly interested until Rory and Lorelai started to help her unwrap presents.

* * *

As the New Year passed ("She slept through all of that? How could she sleep through all that noise we made?" Lorelai demanded a few minutes after midnight and when she and Rory realized that Charlie had slept through her first New Years Eve.) Lorelai forgot about all the conversations regarding the supposed thing Luke had for her. Rory threw herself into school, mostly so that Lorelai would know she was busy and not ask about her love life, or lack there of and Richard reveled in retired life. Emily, on the other hand, wished that Richard would go back to work, or at least get out of the house more often. By the time February rolled around, she was begging Lorelai to take him off her hands for a day.

"I'm sorry," Emily said tightly. "But I'm desperate. I just need one day of peace and I will do anything to get it, anything," she said, shifting slightly in her seat. Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Okay mom, fine, uh, I'll take him," she said sadly as she stood out side of Stars Hollow Video, her cell phone pressed to her ear. She did smile a little as she saw Rory battle Charlie over who would hang onto the video.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," she said as Richard called to her from the other room. "I have to go. Tomorrow morning," she said quietly.

"Tomorrow morning. Bye," she said as she hung up. She couldn't help but stare at her cell phone for a moment before shaking her head and heading back inside to deal with Kirk and the issue of her lost video card. "So, I seem to be baby sitting your grandfather tomorrow," she said as they finally got their videos and headed towards Luke's to pick up their order.

"Really," was all Rory said. "Why?"

"Your grandmother is desperate and will to do anything to get him out of the house," Lorelai explained as she took Charlie from Rory so she didn't have to juggle the baby and the videos.

"Living with a retired man not as much fun as she though?" Rory joked as she got a better handle on the videos.

"Apparently," she said dryly as they walked into the diner and headed for the counter.

"It's not ready yet," he said when he saw them.

"We ordered 20 minutes ago. How long does 2 cheese burgers, 2 orders of fried and 2 sodas take?" Lorelai asked as they took a seat at the counter.

"Look, there were issues. I need another 5 minutes," he said with a shrug. "To tide you over," he said as he placed a donut in front of Lorelai and Rory. "None for her," he said, pointing a finger at Lorelai.

"Please! Do you really think I would?" she asked as she undid Charlie's snow suit.

"Yes, I do," he said. "I'm watching the two of you," he said, pointing a finger at each of them before he headed back to the kitchen.

"Mom!" Rory hissed when she saw her slip Charlie a tiny piece.

"Of course, this you eat without a fight," she said, shaking her head. "Keep your voice down, he doesn't really have x-ray eyes."

"I thought I told you not to do that!" Luke called. from the back.

"Super sonic hearing however. . . "

"Here," he said, putting the bag and cups in front of them. "Get out," he said as he took the money from Lorelai. Lorelai grinned as she bundled the baby up again and soon they were on their way home to watch their Worst Movie Ever film festival.

* * *

"Rory, please. I can't handle the entire day with him. I can't, I can't, I caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan't." Lorelai whined as she followed Rory through the house, trying to convince her to ditch school in order to deal with her grandfather.

"Mom, I promise. Just make it till the afternoon, and then I promise I'll come right home and I'll take Grandpa off your hands."

"Alright," she pouted, still trying to change Rory's mind. Charlie giggled from her place on Lorelai's hip over the whole affair.

"It'll be fine," Rory said confidently.

"It is not going to be fine. It's going to be horrible. It is going to be a bad, depressing Lifetime movie and Nancy McKeon will be playing me. I am Jo," she finished just as the door bell rang. Greetings and pleasantries were exchanged as Rory ducked out for school and Lorelai was left holding the baby and her father. Charlie looked at Richard with big eyes as she grabbed the blanket Lorelai had thrown over her blouse a little tighter.

"Hello Charlie," Richard greeted the baby. He gave her a little tickle and she finally came around.

"Oh, here," she said, taking Richard's coat from him. "Would you like some coffee?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Do you want coffee?" he asked.

"Oh yes, God yes, thank you," she said as she headed to the kitchen. Charlie wiped her head around to keep an eye on Richard. "So you sure you don't, um. . . "

"Coffee? No no. I would, however, like my granddaughter," he said as he held out his arms.

"Right," she said. She tossed the blanket over his shoulder and handed him the baby who squealed in delight at being so high up. "Can I get you anything else? Some Pop Tarts or, well. . . That's pretty much it."

"I'm fine," he said as he took a seat at the table. "She's getting big," he remarked as he held the baby who was now standing on his thighs.

"She is," Lorelai remarked with a smile as she grabbed the paper off the counter and tossed it on the table.

"And vocal," he added as Charlie babbled away and began reaching for his bow tie.

"She's a Gilmore Girl," Lorelai replied. "We like to talk. Would you like to read the paper? I mean, it's not the Wall Street Journal, but the Gazette does some times have something worth reading in it," she said as she nudged it towards him.

"Is she walking yet?" he asked, still engrossed in his granddaughter.

"No," she blurted out after a moment. "But she has definitely mastered crawling. Turn your back for a minute and she's gone." Lorelai started to relax. If Richard was going to be this interested in Charlie, she had the potential for a fairly quiet day. Eventually, however, Charlie started to fuss and Richard panicked, so she took the baby back and headed up stairs to change her and get her dressed for the day.

It was then the comments started.

He called up to her about how a quilt on the floor wasn't really a suitable play area for a growing baby and why didn't she have a gate up to keep Charlie from climbing up the stairs? What was she going to do when Charlie needed her own room? If she was interested, he knew of a fantastic contractor with good rates or he could even set her up with a realtor he knew.

"Dad," she said when they came back down. "How about we head to Luke's?" she asked as she handed him back the baby while she got some of Charlie's things together.

"Shouldn't she have something more than a sweater on?" Richard asked as Lorelai pulled one on over Charlie's head before putting her in the carrier.

"See, that's what is so great about this. This little bag is warm enough that she doesn't need a snow suit which makes her happy, which in turn makes me happy so it's really a win-win situation," she said as she put Charlie's hat on her head and tossed an extra blanket over the carrier. She handed her father his coat and put on her own before slinging her purse and Charlie's bag over her shoulder and grabbing the carrier. "Let's go," she said as she headed for the jeep.

* * *

"You have your own table?" Richard asked as he followed Lorelai to the table in the back corner.

"It's just easier," she said as she took Charlie and put her in the high chair. "Luke knows we come in every day and it's just easier to leave the high chair set up back here than it is to move it around the diner." Just then, said diner owner came over to the table. Lorelai introduced him to her father and quickly ordered.

"She okay with eggs?" he asked.

"Yeah, light on the cheese and a banana?"

"Milk yet?"

"No," she said with a shake of her head as she dug through the bag and handed him a bottle.

"Be right back," he said as he took it from her and headed back to the kitchen. Richard watched the whole performance with interest.

"What?" she asked him.

"Is he normally this attentive to all his customers?"

"Some times," she said. Quietly. "But we're special," Lorelai replied. "Me and Rory single handedly keep him a float."

"Really," Richard said with a sly smile. "You didn't order any grapefruit," Richard said, changing the subject.

"Yeah, I don't really like grapefruit." Richard quickly began talking about how he always had grapefruit and that she should start her day off with one too. "See, the problem with this is that she doesn't really like grapefruit either," Lorelai added, pointing towards Charlie.

"I don't really see how that's a problem," he replied. Lorelai sighed and hung her head. This was _so_ not a conversation she wanted to be having with her father.

"Okay, dad, while she is eating solid food now, I'm still responsible for part of her dietary needs."

"Of course you are! Don't be ridiculous Lorelai, it's not like she can feed herself yet."

"No, dad," she chuckled awkwardly before leaning in closer to him. "She's not 100 on the bottle yet." He turned to her and she hoped to God he got what she was saying.

"I don't understand." She closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

"She's still nursing dad," she finally blurted out. After Richard had recovered from that announcement, he launched into a little speech about how could that still be going on? She was nearly a year and most babies are weaned by 6 months. "Well, she wasn't and we're happy with that. So just forget the grapefruit," she said as Luke returned with the bottle. "Thank God," she said as he gave it to Charlie and the conversation halted.

"Rest'll be out in a minute," Luke said as he headed back to the kitchen. Lorelai shook her head slightly as Luke brought out the rest of the food. She was very glad she had brought Charlie with her this morning as she kept Richard occupied while Lorelai ate as quickly as possible.

* * *

"Have we heard from Manny yet?" she asked as she sorted through mail. She had been at the inn for about an hour and a half and was just now getting to the mail as there were other more pressing issues.

"No, and I have paged him twice," Michel replied.

"We only have enough linen for one seating tonight. Hand me the phone."

"Plus we are out of clean towels," Michel threw in. Lorelai rolled her eyes as she dialled.

"Hi, Sophie, it's Lorelai. I need to talk to Manny. . . Well, when will he be back?" she asked, starting to get annoyed. "Okay, I need him to call me really, really soon, like five minutes ago. Okay, thanks," she said as she hung up. "We need a backup plan," she said as she looked to Michel.

"Mm hmm," was all he said as he looked at her.

"Call Patty's and see if she has any party rental tablecloths we can use for tonight and then pull all the towels form the pool and call Gandolfi's and order a case of champagne," she rattled off, her mind already 3 steps ahead of the problem. "Send a bottle to every room that's towel-less and just page him every two minutes and oh no!" she exclaimed as she saw Richard come into the inn with Charlie.

"Hi," he said with a smile.

"I thought you were gonna tour the town," she said as she came down to take Charlie from him. As she freed Charlie from the carrier, Richard told her about all the things he had gone to see. Lorelai nodded as she picked Charlie up and handed her back to Richard so she could put her socks back on and smooth down her fly away hair.

"And then I realized the only thing I had not seen is my daughter at work."

"Oh, well," she said as she took Charlie back from him and grabbed the carrier, heading towards her office. "Watching me at work is not very interesting, trust me," she tried to assure him as he followed her.

"Oh, you underestimate yourself," he commented as he watched her head behind her desk and grab a few toys, handing one to Charlie immediately.  
"Okay, well, um," she said as they headed back out to the lobby. "There's books on the shelves over there," she said, pointing them out.

"No no, I have my newspaper, I'm fine," he said with a smile. "Would you like me to take her?"

"Ah," she said as she considered her options. "In a bit. We're just gonna. . . What's the matter?"

"Is your jacket still in your office?"

"My jacket? I don't have a jacket," she said, wiling this conversation to end swiftly. Richard frowned slightly.

"And you have some one to watch Charlie?"

"Yeah, me," she said. "Michel has the desk covered and I have work to finish in my office and when that's done, we will probably come out to the desk and Michel will complain while she clings to my pant leg to stand up. It's a good system we have. Just, take a seat dad, I'll bring her over in a bit," she finished, making a hasty exit to the desk, only to get a call from Rory telling her that she wouldn't be home until dinner. "I hate my life," Lorelai muttered as she headed to the kitchen with Charlie still on her hip.

"Hey Sugar Pie!" Sookie said with a smile when she saw Charlie.

"Save me," Lorelai muttered as she rested her head on Sookie's shoulder for a minute. She quickly spilled out everything about the lack of linens and towels and the fact that her father was here and Rory couldn't get home until dinner. "You need a bigger kitchen," Lorelai lamented as she glanced around.

"I do. I do? Why do I need a bigger kitchen?" Sookie asked.

"Because then I could stash her in here in a play pen and not have to turn her over to my father," she said with a sigh as she headed back out. "She's all yours," she said with a smile as she deposited Charlie on Richards lap. "Give a shout if you need anything."

* * *

"Rory, we're home!" Lorelai called out as she hurried into the house with Charlie, Richard following behind her.

"Really Lorelai, I still don't see how it's appropriate to keep her with you at work."

"Rory, for the love of God, be home!" she yelled as she headed towards the kitchen.

"I'm here, sorry! I was on the phone. How was your," Rory didn't get a chance to finish because by the time she met up with Lorelai, she had already put Charlie down and pulled Rory into a tight hug. "Ohhhh, ok."

"I don't think I've ever loved you quite as much as I love you right now," she muttered in Rory's ear.  
"Ah, ribs cracking, organs crushing," Rory complained.

"Yeah, well, love hurts," Lorelai said as she let go of Rory, pushed her towards her grandfather and picked Charlie's carrier back up and headed for the kitchen. "Come make mommy feel better," she whispered to Charlie as she freed her from the carrier. She leaned against the corner of the counter and held Charlie close. Still sleepy, Charlie allowed the cuddle for a moment before she demanded to be put on the ground. Lorelai sighed as she complied and moved to sit on the stairs in the living room willing Rory to occupy her father for more than 5 minutes.

Eventually Richard did come out but fortunately as he and Rory took up residence in the living room, she was able to escape upstairs to change and order Chinese food for dinner.

* * *

"Should she still be up?" Richard asked around 7:30 when the 8 month old was lazing around in Lorelai's arms, working her way through a teething biscuit.

"She's fine dad," Lorelai said, a hint of fatigue in her voice. "She'll be in bed by 8," she assured him. Richard caught sight of the time when Rory announced that while she was enjoying the conversation, she really needed to do some home work.

"I should go as well," he said as he stood and headed to the foyer to get his coat. "I had a wonderful day girls," he said as they walked him to the door.

"Good," Rory said as she hugged him.

"I'm glad," Lorelai added with a smile as Richard kissed her on the cheek and dropped a kiss on Charlie's head.

"I will see the three of you girls on Friday," he said with a wave as he headed out into the night and to the car.

"Oh thank God," Lorelai said as she sagged against the door in relief. "Never again. I don't care what my mother is holding over my head, we are never doing this ever again."

"Come on mom," Rory started.

"No. All he did was pick. Pick, pick, pick," she complained. "About everything. Where Charlie plays in the living room, no gates on the stairs, where was she going to sleep when she out grew the crib? And then we moved on to why I shouldn't still be nursing."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Definitely a conversation I had no need to ever have with my father. And when we got to the inn? Don't I think it's inappropriate to have Charlie with me and I should have a work jacket. And why was I flirting with Manny?"

"Because it's Manny?"

"Exactly. But flirting is wrong and letting her stay behind the desk with me was wrong and the list just kept. Getting. Longer. Your grandfather is exhausting," she concluded as she accepted the half eaten cookie from Charlie who had lost interest in it. "We're going upstairs for some 'inappropriate' bonding."

"Have fun!" Rory called as she headed off to do her home work and Lorelai headed upstairs with Charlie.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

"Are you going to enter a basket in Charlie's name?" Rory asked as they sorted through the baskets in Doose's. The annual Bid-A-Basket auction was coming up in a few days.

"I can't say I was planning on it. Besides, can you think of any one who would bid on this that you'd want to take Charlie for an afternoon?"

"Luke," she said definitely.

"Who _would_ bid," Lorelai repeated.

"Oh," Rory said. "No then," she replied.

"What about your basket?" Lorelai asked her.

"I didn't make a basket," Rory said quickly.

"Then who does that little blue diamond number belong to? Dorothy Gail?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said as she turned on her heel and left the market, Charlie firmly in her arms. Lorelai watched them go before she turned back to the baskets at hand.

"You wouldn't happen to have change for a dollar, would you dear?" Patty asked as she came over.

"I think so," she said as she began to dig through her purse.

"I don't know where my quarters go," Patty commented as she continued to dig through her wallet.

"Down some guy's g-string, I would expect."

"Oh no, a quarter would be insulting," Patty said off hand, accepting the quarters from Lorelai before she continued digging for the dollar. As she pulled it out, another little something floated out of her wallet and to the ground.

"Why do you have a picture of me in your wallet?" Lorelai asked once she had picked it up and realized what it was. Lorelai's mouth dropped open as Patty explained that it was a visual aid for the men she was talking to about Lorelai.

"Patty!" Lorelai exclaimed, not believing what she was hearing.

"Oh all right," she said, agreeing not to talk to random single men about her.

"Thank you. I'll keep this if you don't mind," Lorelai said as she headed to the check out with the smallest basket she could find.

"Stubborn girl," Patty muttered as she continued shopping.

* * *

"Hey," Jess called out.

"Hey," Rory replied cautiously as she turned around to look at him. Charlie eyed him from under her hat.

"You gonna take part in all of this?"

"All of this what?" she asked him as she left Doose's. Jess followed quickly behind her.

"This whole basket thing. You making one?" he asked, some what casually.

"I might," she said as she lowered Charlie to the ground when she started to squirm. Jess watched as the almost 9 month old stared up at him while clinging to Rory's pants.

"Hoping a certain some one will bid on it?" he asked as he turned his attention back to Rory.

"No," she said. "Mom's trying to get someone to clean the gutters. I'm just trying to help."

"Really," Jess said, shoving his hands in his pocket. Charlie, having had enough standing by now, plunked herself down on the ground.

"Really," she said again as she bent down to pick Charlie up off the ground that was still wet from the melting snow.

"Well, maybe I'll just have to keep an eye out."

"Don't go out of your way," she said as he turned to leave.

"Oh, I won't," he said as he continued on his way. Rory frowned slightly as she turned back to Doose's to wait for her mother. Jess was a complicated creature and she wasn't really sure how well she wanted to get to know him.

* * *

"That is a _very_ cute basket, I wonder who's it is?" Lorelai asked a few days later at the basket auction as she and Rory stood drinking coffee while Charlie napped in her stroller near by.

"It does look some what familiar, doesn't it?" Rory asked with a grin. As a few of the teenage boys started to bid on it, they were all shocked to hear Jess join the fray.

"Fifteen," he called out. Lorelai and Rory looked at each other as the bidding kept going.

"Thirty," Jess called out calmly.

"I think you may be having lunch with Jess today," Lorelai commented.

"Either that or he's really gunning to clean the gutters," Rory added.

"Forty-five," Jess called out.

"Wow, he must _really _ like gutters," Lorelai said as she glanced over at Rory to judge her reaction.

"Yeah," was all Rory said as they watched Taylor bang the gavel and announce that Jess had won the basket. Rory turned to Lorelai soon after. "What exactly just happened?"

"Uh, we stepped into the Twilight Zone?"

"Here's hoping," Rory said as she glanced over her shoulder at Jess who smiled and shook the basket a little as he held it up high enough for her to see. "I should go," she said with a sigh as she headed over to talk to Jess.

* * *

"So, I guess you really want to clean our gutters," Rory called to him as she got close.

"Well, normally I like lunch before I start putting out," he quipped and she couldn't help but smile. "You wanna get going?" he asked, jerking his thumb behind him.

"Where?" she asked.

"I know a place," he said as he started to walk.

"Hey!" she called as she jogged after him.. "Where's this place?"

* * *

Lorelai frowned as she watched Jackson not bid on Sookie's basket. As she was about to go and talk to her, she saw the two of them find each other and start to argue it out. She sipped at her coffee as she surreptitiously watched the couple. Just as the fight got heated, it died down again and though she was some what disappointed that the entertainment was over, she was also pleased that they had worked it out.

"I bid five dollars," she heard some one say and she glanced up to see that it was her basket that was up for bid.

"Whoa, that was quick," she muttered.

"$10!" Came another voice.

"$15!" Came a third. She squinted at the guy for a moment.

"He looks familiar," she muttered. "So does he," she said when she saw the second guy. She wandered towards the third voice, pulling Charlie behind her. "Those are the guys, aren't they?" she asked Patty when she got over to her. "The guys whose pictures you sent me . . . You brought them here! You're setting me up!"

"Well darling, you can't be trusted to do it yourself," Patty said with a shrug as she turned her attention to the baby who was starting to wake up.

"Oh jeez, oh jeez," she muttered as the bidding on her basket kept going.

"That one's a snorkler," Patty said with a grin as she pointed to the guy in question.

"Ugh!" Lorelai said as she took off towards Luke's. While she knew that she should have at least asked Patty to watch the baby, she knew she didn't have time. "Luke! Where is he? Where is he? I need him!" she cried as she burst into the diner. "Caesar, where is. . . Ah! Thank God! Hey, hey, hey you gotta come with me!"

"What are you doing? Hey hey, I got plates here!" he complained as Lorelai all but slammed into him and grabbed the plates out of his hands.

"Put the burgers down," she said as she put them on the counter. "Caeser, you're in charge!" she called to the back.

"Now wait," he said as she headed to the cash register.

"Do you have money? I need money. Which one opens this thing? Is it that one, not that one?" she asked as she started to randomly press buttons on the cash register.

"Stop messing with that," he said as he slapped her hands away from it and gave her a little shove to the other side of the counter as he picked the burgers up and delivered them to the right table.

"Luke, you gotta come out there with me. Patty gave my picture out to all these guys because she things I need a man," Lorelai complained as she tailed Luke around the diner, only a few inches from him.

"You do, one with a nice couch and a deep knowledge of Freud," he said with a smirk.

"You have to come out and bid on my basket!"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes," she said, absolutely serious.

"I have never in my life taken part in one of these crazy group flip outs. I'm not about to start now," he said as he began to move around the diner again.

"But. . . Right now. . . Out there. . .the. . ." she stuttered, gesturing wildly towards the crowd gathered in the square.

"Just buy your own basket," Luke said as he headed to another table to give them their bill.

"I cannot buy my own basket, that would be pathetic," Lorelai said as she trailed after him.

"And chasing me around my diner begging me to buy your basket?" he asked as he wrote out the bill before placing it on the table.

"Also pathetic. But that is a pathetic I can live with, where that pathetic is a truly pathetic pathetic, and only you can save me form the double pathetic! Please!" she begged.

"I can't believe I'm doin' this," he said as he slammed his order pad and pencil down on a table and grabbed his coat before heading out. "Now where are you going?" he asked when she took off in the other direction.

"To rescue Charlie from Patty."

"You left her alone out here?"

"I was desperate! And she wasn't alone," she scowled as she jogged off to get the baby and Luke listened in on the bidding.

"Forty-seven dollars, are you kidding?" he asked to no one when he heard the current bid.

"Luke!" she called as she came back over with Charlie.

"For what? Two stale Pop Tarts and a Slim Jim?" He sighed as he finally started to half heartedly bid on the basket. "Uh," he said as he reached for his wallet after he was out bid the first two times. "Fifty-two fifty," he called out as he pulled it out of his wallet.

"Oh please God," Lorelai pleaded as Tailor hesitated on sealing the deal.

"Sold for fifty-two fifty!" called Taylor. Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief as Luke went up to pay and get the basket.

"My job here is done," he said as he handed her back the basket.

"We're supposed to eat."

"Really?" he asked, staring at her hard.

"Come on Luke," she said.

"Alright, let's go," he said with a dramatic sigh. Lorelai smiled as she and Charlie caught up to him.

"We're supposed to be eating on the ground," she pointed out to him as he headed for the gazebo.

"Says who? You need to drag that up here?" he asked her, pointing to the stroller.

"Every picture you've ever seen of a picnic shows people eating on the ground," she said as she freed Charlie and carried her up the stairs.

"Yes, and every time I have seen a picture of people eating on the ground I've thought, what the hell are you people doing sitting on the ground? Spring for some beach chairs, you cheapskates." Lorelai couldn't help but snicker as she deposited a squirmy Charlie on the ground.

"Don't tell me you agree with him," she asked Charlie. Charlie looked from her and to Luke before she focused on the picnic basket between them. She immediately reached out for it, having a feeling that there was something good in there.

"Stay outta there," Luke said as he put his hand on top of the basket. Charlie left her hand on the lid and stared up at Luke. "Don't look at me like that," he told her as she pouted up at him. She stared at him for a moment longer before walking back over to Lorelai, hanging onto the bench as she went, looking for sympathy. "That's new," Luke remarked as he watched Charlie shuffle along. "Why didn't you tell me she could do that?" Lorelai cocked an eye brow at him.

"Because you're not my mother?" she asked him. "I don't know. It was a big deal when she started and now it's not. Where are you going?" she asked him as he got up. He explained that if she was going to make him sit out here with her and Charlie, he was going to go to the diner and make them all something to eat, something that contained actual food.

* * *

Rory had trailed Jess as he led the way to his mystery spot. She had tried to keep up with him, but he was faster than he looked.

"So, this is it?" Rory asked as Jess came to a stop by the bridge.

"Yup," he said as he looked over at her.

"So you want to eat here."

"Sure." She glanced over at him before indicating that he should lead the way. "I always thought it was ladies first," he quipped as he headed to the middle of the bridge and sat down. "I also know that you and your mom don't cook, so I'm a little afraid to open this basket."

"I didn't cook," she said. "Sookie made some sandwiches and stuff for me," she told him as she opened the basket and started to pull stuff out.

"What exactly is this?"

"It's good," she said. "Sookie never makes anything that doesn't taste good."

"I suppose I'll trust you, this once," Jess said as he took a bite of his sandwich.

"So?"

"You were right," he said around his mouthful. Rory smiled as she started to eat as well and eventually they started to have a fairly decent conversation. When she started to ask him about books, however, the conversation really picked up and Rory found herself having a really great time, something she had never really expected from Jess.

"Here," Luke said as he handed her a bag as he came back to the bench. "I got some stuff for her too, Cheerio's still a hit?"

"They make everything better," she confirmed as she peaked into the bags. "Here ya go babe," she said as he held a bag of Cheerio's out to Charlie. Charlie shuffled over and reached into the bag, pulling one out. "Go a head and take it," she said. Charlie considered it for a moment before she left Lorelai holding the bag.

"Grown up food for us," he said as he pulled out a bunch of take out containers.

"Wait, that means vegetables," she said cautiously. He chuckled as he handed her a burger and fries.

"Deep fried potatoes are vegetables only in the strictest sense of the word. Gonna give them up?" he asked as he opened his salad.

"No," she said a she quickly ate one. He shook his head and smiled as he watched Charlie wander around the gazebo, coming back only when she had finally finished the Cheerio in her mouth. This time, however Cheerio's weren't on her mind.

"Lorelai," Luke complained when he saw Charlie get a hold of a French fry. Charlie smiled at Luke as she held on to Lorelai's knee.

"What?" she asked as she glanced down at Charlie. "Ah, two more and she'll head back to the Cheerio's. You have had far too much influence on her."

"Oh yeah, juice. Here, this is supposed to be spill proof. What?" He asked when Lorelai started to laugh.

"You bought a sippy cup!" she finally got out as she took it from him. "This is so cute!" she said as she held it out to Charlie. She looked at it for a moment before she took it and began to wander again. Luke muttered excuses as he picked at his salad again. She smiled as she watched him. "This is a nice concept," she said, changing the subject.

"What is?" he asked, grateful for the reprieve.

"Just having someone who you love or have some kind of crazy crush on bid on your basket and then share a romantic lunch, it's a nice concept," Lorelai said as she glanced over at Charlie.

"Well, I'm sure someday you'll manage to find the right guy and drag him out to this thing and make him buy your stupid basket and then you'll be sitting out here with him," he replied as she stared at his salad.

"Yeah, someday," she said wistfully as she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

"You know what?" he asked as he turned to look at her.

"What?"

"This is nice," he said with a smile that she returned.

"It is," she agreed, returning his smile.

* * *

"I'm home," Rory called as she came into the house later that night.

"Whatcha bring me?" Lorelai asked as she looked up from the magazine she was reading.

"_The Children's Hour,_" Rory replied as she pulled it out of her bag. "Jess and I stopped at the book store and then got come pizza before heading home."

"Jess, huh?" Lorelai asked as he flipped through the book. She wasn't particularly fond of Jess, to put it mildly.

"Yes," she said. "It was good. I think that if you asked, he'd probably clean the gutters for you. He says he's always looking for a little extra cash."

"I bet he is," she muttered as she finally put the book down.

"When did you get that?" Rory asked, pointing to the gate that was not at the bottom of the stairs. Lorelai glanced up to see where she was pointing.

"Before we came home. Charlie got to close to the stairs for Luke, so he _insisted_ that we get one."

"Bought it for you, huh?"

"Oh yeah, and he put it up. Right after a very long, very boring lecture that I tuned out."

"So, I guess I know who bought your basket," she said with a smile as she put her new books in her room and came back out to sit on the couch.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai asked as she put down her magazine to look at Rory.

"I think you know," she said with a smile. "So, when's the first date?"

"What? Rory, I think you need to lay off the pretty pills," Lorelai said as she tossed her magazine on the coffee table. "We had lunch in the gazebo, she wandered a little too close and Luke's insane over protectiveness kicked in and here we are."

"Ok," Rory said with a smile as she picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

"Don't you have homework?"

"Nope," she said with a smile as she flipped through the channels. Lorelai grumbled a little longer before Charlie came over, demanding attention.

"You're no longer my favourite daughter," she told Rory as she picked Charlie up and headed to the kitchen to find a snack for her. Rory laughed to herself as she grabbed the remote and started to surf the TV channels.

* * *

Lorelai sat on the porch and watched as Babette patiently helped Charlie walk from gnome to gnome in her yard which, she had to admit was quite a relief. Babette was the perfect height to walk around with Charlie, holding both her hands to keep her upright, because she didn't really have to bend over.

"She's such a doll, Sweetheart," Babette said as he brought the baby back over.

"How would you like to spend some more time with her? Perhaps on Friday in the afternoon?" Lorelai asked hopefully as Babette came to sit on the porch beside Lorelai, Charlie on her lap.

"Baby sit?"

"If you could? Rory has a debate at school that I want to go to and I doubt she'd have the rip roaring good time that I'm going to. It's starts at 3:30, so I'd have to leave around 2:45."

"Bring her on by, we'll have a great time," Babette said with a smile.

"Thanks so much," she said as she offered her a drink.

* * *

As she tuned out of the debate, Lorelai was almost thankful that Christopher had shown up with Sherry, it gave her mind something to think about. After Sookie had put on her best impression of a contortionist, Lorelai decided that she had to sneak a peak of her own and, after skilfully dropping a Kleenex on the ground, she got her chance while picking it up again.

As she came back to earth at the end of the debate, she and Sookie quickly agreed that she had to be a witch, there was no other explanation for her perfect hair and wrinkle-free dress.

"Hi there, you two," she finally said when they ran into them in the hallway.

"Hey Lorelai," Chris said brightly, with a smile. "You guys get to meet at last. This is. . ." Lorelai cut him off.

"Sherry."

"Nice to finally meet you," she said enthusiastically as she shook Lorelai's hand.

"Yeah, I recognized you from your Christmas card," Lorelai added with a smile of her own. As Chris pointed out that they had undoubtedly mocked it, Lorelai denied that they had. Others, yes, but not their card. "Hey, this is Sookie," she said quickly, steering the conversation in a different direction to give herself a moment to collect her thoughts. The fact that Chris had brought Sherry with him had thrown her slightly.

"Nice to meet you," Sherry said.

"Chris I've told you about Sookie," Lorelai said as the conversation started to dwindle.

"Yes, you have, the famous Sookie," he replied.

"The famous Christopher," was all Sookie said. As Sookie panicked about being second to Alan Ducass in the chef world, Rory quickly came out of the auditorium. More greetings were quickly exchanged as Sherry pounced on Rory, talking about all the great things her father had said about her.

"What about Charlie?" Sherry asked. "Is she here?"

"No," Lorelai said quickly. "While I had a feeling that we'd all have a hoot at this debate, I figured it would be best to leave her with a neighbour. Um, will you excuse us for a moment? Rory just wanted to show me something around the corner here, we'll be right back," she said as she quickly led Rory around the corner to consult about Sherry.

"She wants to see Charlie. Who did you leave her with?" Rory hissed as she shifted a little from foot to foot.

"Babette. And how do you know she wants to see Charlie?" Lorelai asked, hands on her hips.

"She asked about her, didn't she?" Rory asked.

"Maybe she was just being polite," Lorelai suggested hopefully with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Mom. . ." Rory prompted. She really didn't want to have to vocalise the expected invitation that they both knew was hanging in the air.

"Fine, our house. Let's go," she grumbled before they put on their happy faces and went back to the group. "Sookie? You know what, you are the greatest chef in the world, bar none," Lorelai said as they came around the corner, rescuing Christopher and Sherry from the bombardment of questions from Sookie.

"Thanks," she said with a laugh, moving away from Christopher since she no longer had to question him. Invitations to the Crap Shack were quickly extended and after deflecting Paris, the mad dash to get home before Christopher and Sherry was on.

* * *

"Go get Charlie, I'll clean," Lorelai said as she began grabbing clothes and blankets off of the couch and showing them in the hall closet.

"What about upstairs? And the kitchen?" she asked as she headed for the kitchen door, gathering up some of her books and school things as she went. She headed into her room to stack them all on her desk.

"I've got the kitchen," she said, already moving on from the living room, several dirty dishes in her hands. "And I will body block the fool who tries to go upstairs. Go, go!"

"I'm going!" she said as she dashed over to Babette's. Lorelai quickly tossed dirty dishes into the sink and dashed back into the living room to tidy the many magazines that were scattered all around. She quickly dashed to the kitchen again and grabbed a bowl.

"Sacrifices," she muttered to herself as she dumped left over hallowe'en candy into the bowl and put it on the coffee table just as Christopher and Sherry knocked on the front door and Rory and Charlie came in the back door.

"Hello?" Christopher called out.

"Hey!" Rory and Lorelai both called out as they dashed into the living room, towards the front door.

"You guys need some more time to clean up?" he asked, just sticking his head in the door and glancing around.

"He knows us too well," Lorelai said as she took a look at Charlie and sent her and Rory upstairs to change her shirt. She headed to the door and let Chris and his girlfriend in.

"Sending them away?" Chris asked as he saw Rory and Charlie disappear up the stairs.

"Yes," Lorelai replied. "They didn't finish their chores before they left. Straight to the tower with them." Chris chuckled as he hung up his and Sherry's coats by the door. "They'll be down in a minute," Lorelai said with a grin. "And there they are," she said as Rory and Charlie came back down. Charlie cast a long glance over Sherry with a critical eye before she settled her gaze on her father.

"Hey baby," he said as he reached out to take her from Rory. Charlie furrowed her brow for a moment but didn't make much of a fuss since Lorelai was standing near by. "I thought I told you to stop growing. Is she walking yet?"

"She will be soon," Lorelai said as she led everyone to the living room, gesturing for Chris and Sherry to sit. As Christopher chatted to Rory about the debate, Sherry focused her attention on Charlie who wanted little or nothing to do with her, eventually letting out a cry so she could get away to Lorelai's arms. As Charlie calmed down, Sherry shifted her attention to Rory, inviting her to go shopping with her, something Rory hesitantly agreed to do. "Hey, how about some drinks? Anyone? We should have some water, maybe soda?" she suggested as she stood up.

"Water would be fine," Chris replied.

"Me too," Sherry added.

"Great," Lorelai said as she stood up and headed to the kitchen, Charlie in her arms and Sherry trailing behind her. She had been unable to convince Sherry that she didn't need any help. As she searched for clean glasses, Charlie on her hip, Sherry launched into a _very_ awkward conversation about how she and Lorelai didn't really need to be friends at all and how she hadn't really meant to come with Chris, it had just happened. She did really want to get to know Rory and Charlie though because they were so important to Christopher and if they were so important to him, they should be just that important to her. Sherry finished by asking if maybe she could take them out. "Uh, Rory, sure. Charlie's not all that great with people she considers strangers," Lorelai said, holding the baby a little tighter to her.

"Right, of course," Sherry said. "So, what are the chances of just me and Rory getting together this trip?" This threw Lorelai and she actually stopped screwing the lid of Charlie's cup on.

"This trip?" was all she could ask when her brain started to work again.

"How about tonight?"

"Tonight?" A quick discussion about Friday night dinners ensued before Lorelai agreed that it was fine with her and as long as Rory was okay with it, Sherry was welcome to her.

"Well, I'll see you back out there, okay?" she said as she grabbed two of the glasses and headed to the living room with out really waiting for an answer. Lorelai quickly handed Charlie her juice and pulled out her cell phone, dialling the house number and insisting that Rory pick it up. She quickly spilled out how Sherry wanted to take her out and was going to ask her and if she was okay with that, she should just tell Leonard they've got company.

"Sorry Leonard, we've got company. I'll have to call you back," Rory said before they both hung up and Lorelai came back into the room with glasses for her and Rory. Lorelai concentrated on Charlie as Sherry invited Rory out with her and eventually, they were at the door, saying their good byes.

"Bye dad," Rory said as she hugged him.

"Bye guys," he said as he gave Charlie a tickle. "Bye Leonard," he whispered to Lorelai with a smirk as he left as well.

"What's wrong?" Rory asked after they left.

"Nothing," she said, still holding Charlie.

"Something is wrong, you haven't put her down since Sherry freaked her out," she said as she headed to the couch and plucked a sucker out of the candy bowl.

"Nothing is wrong Rory," she said as she looked at the VCR. "I'm going to put her down for a couple of hours, so she's ready to deal with your grandparents tonight," she said as she quickly headed up the stairs before Rory could question her any more. Truth be told, she didn't like the idea of Sherry bonding with her kids. They were her kids. She didn't need to share them with anyone, least of all the shiny haired, no wrinkled dress witch Chris was dating at the moment.

* * *

Lorelai worked hard not to roll her eyes when they got into the Gilmore mansion and Emily continued to press the fact that Rory was not with them tonight. Even the fact that Charlie was confidently toddling around the living room, clinging to all the furniture did nothing to distract her.

"I'm afraid it's my fault Emily. My girlfriend and I were passing through town and we dropped by Stars Hollow for a visit, and she and Rory are off doing something together," Christopher said as he accepted his drink from Richard. Lorelai accepted hers as well and looked quizzically at the cherry on a toothpick Richard handed her. She understood when Charlie quickly made her way back over, looking for some of what ever her mother had. She handed her drink to Chris to hold as she broke the cherry into quarters for Charlie.

"You have a girlfriend?" Emily asked, shocked to hear this. "Lorelai, don't make a mess," she snapped at her daughter before thrusting a cocktail napkin at her.

"Sherry," Chris confirmed as Charlie ate the last of the cherry and Lorelai cleaned her own hands, finally taking her drink back from Christopher before sending Charlie off to wander around some more.

"And she and Rory are out together?" Emily asked, more than a little upset that Lorelai had allowed Rory to go out with this woman instead of coming to diner.

"I'm sorry. I should have called, mom," Lorelai said quickly trying to defuse the situation.

"Well, that would've been thoughtful. I mean, we set a place for her at the table and everything." Chris stepped in again, trying to lighten the situation with a joke but Emily would have none of it and continued to press him for information about this woman he was seeing. Soon, Richard joined in on the conversation and there was nothing Chris could do but answer their questions while Lorelai got up to go and round Charlie up from where ever she had gotten to. "Lorelai!" Emily called when she realised she was gone.

"Yes mom?" she asked as she came back into the living room, a slightly disgruntled Charlie in her arms.

"What are they doing?"

"What?" she asked, not really sure who Emily was talking about.

"Rory and Christopher's friend, what are they doing tonight?"

"Dinner and a movie, something like that. It's my fault that we didn't call," she said as she tried to convince Charlie to stay put on her lap. As Emily processed this, Richard quickly picked up the questioning, moving on to Christopher's travel and work habits. When this avenue of conversation led to the mention of the Volvo, Emily quickly began to question Christopher about starting a family with her and Lorelai stepped in to do her best to put an end to all of this.

"Lorelai, sit down," Emily demanded when Lorelai got up to wander with Charlie to keep her quiet.

"I can't mom, Charlie's bored," she said as she started to wander the room. Lorelai kept half an ear on the conversation as she muttered to Charlie about what exactly they were looking at in various paintings that hung around the living room.

"Excuse me," Emily finally said as she left the room and headed towards the kitchen.

"I feel horrible," Chris said, rather helplessly.

"Oh, don't son. That's just Emily," Richard assured him as he sat back in his chair and enjoyed his drink.

"I'll go see what I can do," Lorelai said as she headed to the kitchen after depositing Charlie in Christopher's lap.

* * *

Lorelai stood, fuming, as her mother stalked out of the kitchen. Emily was nearly in tears after explaining that all her dreams of Christopher and Lorelai getting married had been shattered by this Sherry and she didn't understand why Lorelai wasn't broken up about it either. She glanced over at the dirty dishes in the sink and couldn't help herself. She rolled up the sleeves of her blouse and began scrubbing the pans as she tried to relax for a bit and sort out what exactly was going on in her head.

She may be all calm and collected about the whole Sherry/Christopher situation on the outside, but on the inside. . . She felt a whole lot more like Emily did than she really wanted to admit.

Eventually, she stopped scrubbing and dried her hands. She put on a somewhat pleasant expression on her face and went out to face Christopher and Richard before heading upstairs to talk Emily down from her bedroom.

* * *

"Come in!" Lorelai called as she rushed around the main floor of the house. She was supposed to have met Chris at Luke's about 25 minutes ago, but her alarm hadn't gone off, or it had but she had shut it off and gone back to sleep. . . she wasn't sure. Rory had packed up Charlie and headed off to spend a little more time with Sherry before her alarm had gone off, so Rory hadn't even been there to wake her up.

"Running late?" he asked as he came in, smirking a little as she rushed around, still in her pyjamas, wet hair curling down her back as it dried.

"Stupid alarm. I think I swore off things that purred at some point, but, here we are," she called from the kitchen as she battled the coffee maker.

"It's okay," he said as he took off his coat as he came into the kitchen, tossing it over the back of a chair. "The girls are still with Sherry," he told her as he sat down.

"Good," she said, definitely not ready to deal with Miss Perfect looking like this.

"She had a really great time with Rory," he said as he accepted a cup from her. "They seem to really be hitting it off."

"Unhuh," she said as she put some Pop Tarts in the toaster.

"She feels a little bad that Charlie doesn't really seem to want to have anything to do with her."

"That's what baby's do with strangers," she said. "I'm surprised she still knows you," she muttered. She snapped her mouth shut as soon as the words had left. She hadn't meant to say that but she was tired and stressed and mad about Sherry and there it was.

"I'm trying, Lor," he said, working to keep the frustration out of his voice. "I'm doing my best."

"Sure," she said. If he had said anything by the 'I'm trying my best' speech, she probably would have covered it better.

"What does that mean?"

"How long have you been seeing Sherry, Chris?" she asked, fatigue and adrenaline starting to get the best of her.

"What? Why does that matter?"

"How long?"

"Almost a year," he said, sounding almost proud of that to Lorelai's ears.

"Almost a year as in you started dating while I was still pregnant? Or almost a year as in Charlie was less than 4 months old?" She turned to watch him fidget a little. "Okay. Was she less than 2 months?" she said, starting to pick up steam the more Chris hesitated. "Jesus Chris! Were we even out of the hospital before you picked Sherry up?"

"Were you even out of the hospital before you picked up that diner owner?" he shot back.

"Chris, I am as single as a Jew in Utah," she said as she turned to look at him, hands on her hips.

"Well, from what I heard from Sherry, Rory talked quite a bit about what Luke has been doing for you."

"He's a friend, one of my best friends! When I need help, he steps up. What's your excuse? I turned down your proposal and you went out and found Sherry?"

"We'd been going out for lunch together for a long time before we started going out."

"How long after Charlie was born did you wait to start dating her?" she asked as she leaned on the kitchen table, standing across from him.

He sat for a long moment and she shook her head as she realised he was actually calculating a time. "About 6 weeks."

"Makes perfect sense," she said, throwing her arms up in the air. "That would be right about the time you stopped calling me for regular updates about Charlie and would only call Rory when you knew I would be out. Nice Chris, really classy," she said as she pushed away form the table.

"What did you want me to do? Sit around pining for you?" he demanded as he stood up from his chair and leaned on the table as well.

"No, but I at least thought you'd wait longer than 30 seconds after your kid was born to find a new girl friend!"

"You're jealous," he said after a long silence fell between them. "You're jealous that I'm with Sherry and not you," he said, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. The fact that he seemed pleased that he thought she was jealous sent Lorelai through the roof.

"No Chris, I'm pissed as hell that you seem to be getting yourself a new family before your kid is even a year old! I'm pissed that you didn't tell me she was coming with you and I'm pissed that she's just inviting herself into my kids' lives!"

"They're not just your kids," he said as he moved around the table to confront her. "They're my kids too!" She laughed, she couldn't help herself.

"Then why am I the one raising them and putting my personal life on hold _again_ because you can't be bothered if I won't marry you?!?"

"Jesus Lor! Go date some one! Get married for all I care!"

"I can't!" she yelled at him. "I can't date because I have to put guys through a 12 step program first! Do they like kids? Do they only like Rory and Charlie because they like me? Is he going to be good to them? Are they going to like him? The list goes on!"

"You can't pin all of this on me!" he shouted back. "I didn't get into this mess by myself!"

"No," she said, deathly calm, having moved to that special level beyond anger. "You just packed up and left when things got too messy for you." They stared at each other for a long moment.

"Fuck you," Chris said quietly as he grabbed his coat off of the back of the chair and headed for the door.

"Very nice, thanks," she called after him as she heard the door slam shut behind him. She listened as his car roared to life and he sped off. She chuckled to her self a bit as she realised that it was about a year ago that they'd had a very similar argument that had ended pretty similarly over much of the same topics.

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

Lorelai had stomped around the house for some time after Christopher had left. She had actually started cleaning the house since there were no dishes for her to wash. She stopped to stare out the living room window when she heard a car pull up. She peaked through the curtain as she saw Rory get out of the car before ducking back in to bring Charlie's carrier with her. She felt herself start to fume again and both Chris and Sherry hugged Rory good bye before moving onto Charlie.

As Rory headed for the house, Lorelai marched back to the kitchen to start another pot of coffee and to try and calm down.

"We're home!" Rory called as she and Charlie came in. "Hey, didn't you hear me?" she asked when she finally made it into the kitchen, Charlie crawling after her.

"No, sorry. I was distracted," she said.

"What happened?" Rory asked as she went straight over to her mother. There was just something in the tone of her voice that told Rory something was off.

"Nothing," she said as she picked up Charlie who had come over too.

"Something happened. Dad was all weird too when he came to pick us up."

"Nothing was weird. How was breakfast with Sherry?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Good. Charlie wouldn't eat anything though, not even Luke could get her to eat anything," Rory reported as she headed over to the coffee maker. Lorelai sighed as she looked at her youngest for a moment before plucking a jar of baby food from a cupboard and settling Charlie in her high chair. "I'm gonna go finish up some homework, I have plans this afternoon."

"With Lane?" Lorelai asked as she gave up on finding a bib and just tied a large tea towel around Charlie's neck.

"With Jess, actually," she said, playing with her door knob. "Andrew got a bunch of new books in and we're going to go and browse."

"Have fun," was all Lorelai said as Charlie greedily accepted the first spoonful. Lorelai really wasn't in the mood to argue any more today.

* * *

Rory knew that something had happened between her parents while she and Charlie had been at breakfast with Sherry, but neither of them were talking about it. They also wouldn't talk to each other when Chris called to talk to Rory. Rory sighed as she and her father hung up later that week and she began to think about what they could have possibly argued about. She had a feeling Charlie was involved as her father was avoiding asking any questions about her and he seemed to change the subject pretty quickly when she brought up her sister.

Rory walked silently to the living room and put the phone in it's cradle by the answering machine before returning to her room to finish her home work.

* * *

"I need to talk to Rory first, mom," Lorelai said as she considered Emily's offer to go to a spa over the weekend. After the incident with Christopher a few weeks ago, she more than ready to take part in spa activities, even if it potentially meant having to do them with her mother.

"What does Rory have to do with this?" Emily asked.

"Well, because if she feels up to it, I'll leave Charlie with her over night. If she doesn't, I'm going to have to find some one else to watch her before I can agree to go," she said calmly, almost like she was spelling this out to a child.

"Well fine," her mother said. "Just do it quickly. Good bye Lorelai."

"Bye mom," she said as she hung up and headed back into the diner. She glanced at Rory and Charlie sitting under a large black umbrella before she sat at the table as well. "How would you feel about watching Charlie for the weekend?"

"Lean forward," she said to Lorelai. "For the whole weekend?" she asked as more plaster rained down on the umbrella.

"Hmm," Lorelai said after the shower of plaster had abated. "Yes, Friday after school until Saturday morning. Sookie has Friday off so she said she'd watch Charlie while you're at school."

"I don't know. . . " Rory said hesitantly. "I've never been alone with her for more than a few hours."

"It's okay," Lorelai said. "Never mind, I can ask some one else. My mother wants me to go to a spa with her."

"Really?" Rory asked, never having imagined that those words would come out of her mother's mouth.

"Order?" Luke asked as he came over, interrupting the conversation. Lorelai quickly ordered pancakes and bacon for herself and eggs for Charlie while Rory opted for French toast and sausage.

"But only if I can find some one to watch Charlie." Rory considered it for a while longer.

"I'll watch her," she said after a moment.

"Really? Because you really don't have to if you're not comfortable with this."

"It'll be fine," Rory said. "We'll have a quiet weekend at home. I can do laundry, my home work and order Indian food and she can lounge around and play."

"Great," Lorelai said with a smile as she began making mental list of all the stuff she would have to bring with her, as well as lists of contact information she would have to leave for Rory.

* * *

"Okay, come on," Lorelai said to Rory the day before she was supposed to head to the spa. "All the contact numbers are on the fridge, the spa, Grandpa, Sookie, Luke, paediatrician, poison control. . . The usual."

"Luke?"

"Food!" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Right, sorry, keep going," she said.

"The fridge is stocked," Lorelai said, opening the door. "All the bottles are ready to go, juice, finger foods, snacks, everything so you don't need to worry about Charlie."

"Perfect," she said.

"I'm going to very strongly suggest you sleep in my room so you're close to her. She doesn't often wake up in the middle of the night, but if she does, you should be close. If you don't want to do that, you can always haul out the play pen your grandmother insisted on dropping off. It's shoved in the hall closet and just kind of unfolds, very easy to set up. She'd also be fine on the blanket on the floor if you're going to sleep in the living room," Lorelai rattled off as they headed into the living room to check on Charlie who was pushing buttons on some relatively noisy toy Sookie had bought her.

"We'll be fine," Rory assured her with a smile. She said that they'd be fine out loud as much as she could, mostly to assure herself as well as Lorelai.

"If you have any problems or questions, don't hesitate to call me, ok? Day or night," she told Rory.

"I will call before I get in over my head," Rory confirmed.

"Excellent," Lorelai said as she flopped down on the couch and began to channel surf while Rory wandered back to her room to study some more. "Oh yeah, Rory?" She yelled from the couch.

"What?"

"Try to do something bad while Mommy's away? And if you can't swing that, at least get together with Jess and do something I wouldn't approve of, okay?" Rory and Jess had started to hang out more regularly since the buy a basket fund-raiser and while Lorelai still didn't really approve of him, she was starting to warm up to him.

"I'll see what I can do," Rory called back.

* * *

Rory had been excited about getting her lab report back, but after listening to the teacher talk about the relatively low marks, she was a little worried. She quickly opened the report booklet and smile when she saw an A staring back at her. Satisfied, she closed it and got ready to begin on the day's lab experiment.

"So, I suppose that you have big Friday night plans also?" Paris asked as she marched over to Rory's desk.

"Kind of," she said, not particularly wanting to go into any details. She listened as Paris launched into a long winded panic induced speech about only getting an A- on her report and how she desperately needed to study. Rory promised to study with her if she did poorly on the next quiz and Paris accepted that answer, though not without muttering as she stomped back to her desk.

* * *

Lorelai rolled her eyes for the 8 millionth time that day as Emily invaded her private room again to continue nattering about nothing. For some one who had been going on and on about how nice it would be to relax, Lorelai was surprised that Emily wasn't taking every chance she got to do what she was trying to do: enjoy the quiet and calm of the spa.

Lorelai thumped her head back against the chair she was in as Emily started up again after pausing to take a breath.

* * *

Later that evening, Rory was sitting happily among many large piles of laundry she had just finished folding, phone to her ear as she ordered her Indian food from a take out menu in her lap, keeping half an eye on Charlie who was very content to sit in an empty laundry basket and play by herself.

"No, that's two orders of garlic naan, three mimosas, and a chicken vindiloo. And rice, and the green sauce and no salad, and. . . Oh wait, sorry. Can you hold on a sec?" Rory quickly hit the call waiting button. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Phil's Liquor. I'm supposed to be delivering a keg there tonight," Lorelai said.

"Hold on," Rory quickly switched back to ordering. "Hi, sorry. Yeah, that's it. Forty minutes? Great. Bye," she said, quickly switching back to her mother. "Hey."

"Who was that?" she asked as she sat on the bed in her room.

"Sandeep's. How's the spa?" Lorelai gave the short version of all the fun she was having with her mother.

"How's Charlie?"

"Playing happily in a laundry basket," Rory said, glancing at her from behind some of her laundry piles.

"Hmm, well as long as she's happy. Put her to bed by 9 or you'll never get her to bed, ok?"

"Gotcha," she replied with a smile. "Oh, door bell," Rory said as she jumped up and Charlie wiped her head around to look at the door. "I'll call you later," she said.

"I wanna find out who it is," Lorelai whined.

"The sooner you get back to your weekend, the sooner it'll be over," she said.

"Okay, but before you go, can you get out my address book and count how many friends I have? I'll wait," she said, stalling for time.

"Bye," Rory said quickly.

"Mean!" Lorelai concluded.

"Steal us soap!" she said happily as they hung up. "Paris?" Rory asked as she opened the door and Paris invited herself in.

"You're in your pyjamas," Paris finally noticed after ranting about how she could no longer read her own hand writing. "And you have a baby," she said, noticing Charlie in the laundry basket. Charlie's brow wrinkled slightly as she eyed the new arrival before letting out a cry of indignation at the cold air that was beginning to blow in on her.

"My sister Charlie, you met her at the Bracebridge dinner?" Rory reminded her as she invited Paris in so she could close the door. "She was smaller then, but still. Anyway, my mother is out of town and I never get the house to myself, or at least I never get it this close to just myself." Paris quickly launched into another rant that Rory put an end to when Charlie started to pick up on the stress in the room and started to get upset. "I'll study with you," she said finally.

"You will?" she said hopefully.

"One hour, that's it. We can do a quick review and a pop quiz and then you are going home. Deal?"

"Deal," she said happily. Rory told her to sit on the couch as she headed to her room to change after picking Charlie up out of the laundry basket.

* * *

Lorelai smiled in pleasure as Emily finally agreed to go out and find a restaurant that would serve them steak. While the day at the spa had been some what less than pleasurable for Lorelai, the night was starting to look up. She had gotten to call her mother a vicious trollop after all.

"Shouldn't you call Rory and check in?" Emily asked before they left.

"I already did," she said, gabbing her coat. "Charlie was playing in a laundry basket while Rory was ordering Indian food, folding her laundry and making plans to burn the house down."

"Lorelai!"

"What? It's the only way to get rid of the smell of that food. Relax mom," she said when she saw the look on Emily's face. "They're fine. Charlie is content and winding down for the night and Rory is just doing what she always does when she has the house to herself, she's being compulsive about getting her whites their whitest. Are we going?"

"We're going," she said as she led the way out of the room.

* * *

"You're in much better shape than you wanna think you are," Rory assured Paris as she did up the last of the snaps on Charlie's sleepers. She set the baby loose again as she picked up her binder and closed it.

"Impossible," Paris said as the door bell rang. "Where are you going?"

"That's my food," Rory explained as she stood up and headed for the door.

"Another half hour, please!" Paris begged.

"No, you got your hour. You need to go, I need to eat and then I need to put her to bed," she said as she grabbed her wallet and started to get money out.

"But. . "

"Go!"

"Fine," Paris grumbled as she began to pick up her things.

"Delivery," Jess said when Rory opened the front door, his arms holding a box full of food from Luke's. He quickly spun her a story about Luke worrying about her and sending over a care package. He had soon invited himself if with a food and had headed to the kitchen. Paris soon entered as well, looking for her flash cards. Rory looked at all the food and knowing that there was more coming, she gave in and invited Paris and Jess to stay.

* * *

Rory smiled a little as she listened to Jess and Paris debate literature while she cuddled Charlie in her lap. Bottle in her mouth, she was slowly dropping off, not bothered at all by Paris and Jess.

"Well, then you can say that they exposed you to a world you wouldn't have other wise known. Isn't that what great writing's all about?" she asked, finally contributing to the conversation.

"That was not great writing. That was the National Enquirer of the fifties," Paris countered.

"You're cracked," added Jess as he reached for the salt and pepper, making a little mound of the two in the lid of an empty take out container. He mixed them together first with a finger before grabbing a fry. He dipped it and held it so Rory could take a bite as her hands were still full.

"Can we maintain this volume, or are we going to get all heated up again?" she asked as Charlie finally dropped off. Jess and Paris looked at her. "If we can stay quiet, I'll leave her down here. If we can't, I'm gonna have to take her upstairs."

"What about your room, with the door closed?" Paris suggested.

"Sold," Rory said. "Some one either needs to hold her or lug the play pen out of the hall closet," she added, glancing between them.

"I got it," Jess said as he got up and lugged it out and into Rory's room. Rory laid the baby in it and covered her with the lap blanket she kept at the end of her bed.

"Now, where were we?" she asked as she took her seat at the table again. The conversation continued on passionately for a few more hours before Jess finally had to beg off, he had to go and help Luke close the diner. As he was leaving, Rory invited Paris to stay the night since it was so late and she grudgingly accepted.

"She sleeps through the night, right?"

"Yeah," Rory said. "I am going to move her out to the living room with us though, just in case."

* * *

"I'm glad everything went well," Lorelai said as she, Rory and Charlie finished up their meal at Luke's on Saturday afternoon.

"It did. She was a little clingy Saturday, but other than that . . . It was fine. She found both Paris and Jess rather interesting," Rory said with a smile before she excused herself and headed up to the counter, intent on thanking Luke for sending the food over. She was more than a little surprised when Jess stepped in and distracted Luke so he didn't hear about it. "Interesting," she said as she started to put the puzzle together. "You wanted to come over."

"I have to get back to work," he said anxiously.

"You're squirming. I've never seen you squirm. It's entertaining," Rory said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," she said as she continued talking to him while Lorelai and Charlie left. Lorelai glanced at the pair from outside the diner and sighed. Rory was 17, it was about time for a Jess.

* * *

"Wow," was all Lorelai could say when she and Rory walked into Luke's, only to see the place packed and Luke tied to the phone.

"What's going on?" Rory asked as she took off her coat and hung it and Lorelai's up on the coat rack.

"No idea," she said as she glanced down at Charlie who was snuggled down in her car seat. When they saw Luke try to make another pass at delivering plates and nearly choking a customer in the process, Lorelai and Rory stepped in.

"You can't put her there!" Luke growled when Lorelai sat Charlie's carrier on the counter.

"Then you take her. You can hold a baby while on the phone," she said as he pointed out where the plates of food should go.

"Okay, I have to go, I need to close up," Luke said when he hung up the phone.

"Why? Me, Rory and Jess are here," she said with a shrug. "It'll be fine. Take Charlie with you, she loves inane errands."

"Lorelai. . . "

"Go," she said as she took Charlie from him and tucked her into the car seat, popped her hat on her head and handed the carrier to Luke. "Make sure she faces the seat back," she warned him as she tossed the baby bag over his shoulder. "And make sure the seat belt goes through the little claw thingies on the side. Have fun!" she said with a smile as she handed Luke the car seat and gave him a shove towards the door.

* * *

"Where is your daughter?" Emily demanded. She had moved on from questioning Lorelai about her involvement in the change of plans in Sookie's wedding and had moved on to why exactly Lorelai was behind the counter of Luke's diner and wearing an apron.

"Rory is serving," Lorelai said, pointing her out.

"Charlie, Lorelai."

"Upstairs with Luke," Lorelai replied casually. Lorelai listened, more than a little shocked to hear her mother shift the topic of discussion to her relationship with Luke. Still convinced that Lorelai was hiding a romantic entanglement with Luke from her, Emily made more than a few not so subtle hints about her opinions on the matter. "Mom, he's just a friend!" Lorelai insisted when Emily started to ask if and when Lorelai and Luke were going to get together. The conversation quickly ended as Luke came down stairs and handed Charlie to Lorelai.

"What do you think of the Romanovs?" Emily asked Luke before she left the diner.

"I think they probably had it coming," Luke replied as he stood beside Lorelai, rolling his sleeves up.

"A match made in heaven," Emily replied as she finally left the diner. Lorelai and Luke looked at each other and she quickly shook her head and held up a hand before she headed to the high chair in the back so she could set Charlie up there while he grabbed the coffee pot and went off to refill cups.

* * *

"Are you okay?" Lorelai whispered to Luke as she stood beside him, a sleeping Charlie in her arms, as they listened to the Reverend eulogise Luke's Uncle Louie.

"Yeah. I'm not big on funerals in general," Luke whispered back, reaching over to pull up a corner of Charlie's blanket that had slipped from her shoulder.

"Nobody is," she replied as she leaned a little closer to him. She and Rory had been helping Luke out all week. They had worked in the diner while he dealt with all the phone calls that were coming in and going out in regards to the funeral. Charlie had even helped out this week. She made sure she was always available to Luke when he needed an excuse for a quiet moment. The pair of them stood, whispering wise cracks to each other as the Reverend droned on about Louie. "It was a nice service. Nice and, um, intimate," Lorelai finally said as Louie's coffin slowly descended into the grave. Luke looked at her and smiled. The only people who had shown up were himself, Lorelai, Charlie and the Reverend.

"I guess everybody deserves something at the end. Thanks for coming," he said sincerely.

"I wouldn't have missed it," she assured him. She honestly meant it too.

"That ain't me, is it?" he asked her, hesitantly, after a moment of silence.

"What are you talking about?" she asked him, her mouth quirking up into a smile. Luke quickly spilled out his fears about being a loner and never getting married and just getting crankier as the years went by. "You are not your uncle," Lorelai assured him. "I mean, would Louie ever baby sit someone's kid just because they were in a lurch, or help fix things around someone's house without being asked or make a special coffee cake with balloons for a girl's sixteenth birthday?"

"Rory told you about that?" he asked, blushing a little.

"Yes. And would Louie have taken in his sister's kid without hesitating and without asking for anything in return?"

"No one would've trusted Louie with their kid. He probably would have forgotten to feed him or something."

"You get my point?" she asked him with a smile.

"Yeah, I get it," he replied with a smile. Lorelai smirked a little as they began to hear drumming coming closer. "Is that Andrew?" Luke asked when they saw a lone figure in a Revolutionary War uniform come up the hill, beating a drum only staying some what in time.

"I believe it is," she said calmly, proud of herself for convincing them all to show up. She looked over at Luke and gave him a little nudge as she beamed away.

"Thanks," he said as she rest of the re-enactors appeared on top of the hill. The three of them stood by Louie's grave and watched as they went through the motions of their salute. As they fired their muskets, Luke smiled a little as Charlie woke abruptly and began to cry. Louie would have hated that the most.

Lorelai also didn't stop him when he put an arm over her shoulders and pulled her tight against him.

* * *

"Do you think he's in heaven?" Lorelai asked casually as they wandered back towards the diner, Charlie now in Luke's arms.

"I hope so, just so my dad can kick his butt around the place," she said with a grin and a bit of a chuckle.

"Can you kick when you're in heaven?"

"It's probably frowned upon," Luke said, some what seriously as he played with his tie. Lorelai smiled at this.

"Yeah, plus you're all see-through and gauzy and your dad's foot could go right through him," she said, pulling up every piece of cartoon depictions of death she could think of.

"This is a silly conversation," Luke concluded with a shake of his head as the diner came into view. "What's all this?" he asked when they noticed the diner, full of people dressed in black and trays of food.

"I have no idea," she said with a shrug as they headed in to, what turned out to be, a wake for Uncle Louie.

* * *

"Hey," Jess said casually as he slid into the seat across from Rory. She looked up at him briefly before she returned to her notes that she was studying. "What are you doing tonight?" he asked.

"Studying," she replied.

"Come out with me." Rory was so shocked by this that she broke her pencil.

"What?"

"There's this great band from New York in Hartford tonight and I want you to come with me," he said as he tossed a flyer on the table.

"The Flamethrowers," she read. "Are they any good?"

"Of course. I saw them a few times in New York. You wanna go?"

"Where are they playing?" Jess quickly rattled off the name of some little club she had actually heard of. "Okay," she said after a minute.

"Great," he said. "Meet me here at 7, we'll take the bus down and be home by midnight," he said as he quickly got up and went back to work. Rory watched him get up and go back to work, wondering if this was a friends thing, or a date thing. She shook her head and went back to her home work.

* * *


	10. Chapter 10

So, only 4 reviews last part. I'm gonna assume that's because was eating the alert emails and not because you kids have lost interest in this story, FYI, 2 more parts in Season 2. Season 3 has about 40 pages to it so far.

* * *

"He asked you out?" Lorelai asked as Rory dug through Lorelai's closet for something to wear.

"It's not a date," she said dismissively as she pulled out a shirt. Lorelai shook her head and Rory put it back and kept looking. "It's just a concert."

"Sounds like a date to me," Lorelai commented. "And what do you want?" she asked Charlie. The 10 month old bounced a little as she pointed to a toy on the night stand. Lorelai handed it to her before she turned her attention back to Rory. "And if it's not a date, why are you so concerned about what to wear?"

"I don't really have anything for a concert," she muttered as she pulled out a tight long sleeved shirt with a flashy logo on it.

"Take it," Lorelai said. "What you wore to The Bangles was concerty."

"Yeah, but this isn't The Bangles, this is a New York garage band," she corrected as she left the room.

"Silly me," Lorelai called after her as she turned her attention to Charlie, who had plunked herself down on the floor with the toy. She slid off the bed and to the floor to play with Charlie for a while.

"Don't worry, I'll call if I need anything. Besides, this place isn't that far from Grandma and Grandpa's," Rory assured Lorelai as she pulled on her coat.

"Be careful," Lorelai warned again.

"I will. Bye," she said with a wave as she slipped out the door and headed to the diner to meet Jess. He was ready as soon as she got there and they didn't have to wait very long for the bus either. They fell into an easy conversation about books and the band they were going to see and soon, they found themselves in Hartford, a few blocks from the club. "Is this the right place?" she asked Jess when they stopped in front of a dingy, dirty little hole in the wall of a club. This was definitely not the club she had thought it was.

"Yup," he said as he paid the bouncer so they could get in. Jess got his hand stamped and Rory held hers out, ID in her other hand, expecting to get carded. She was more than a little surprised when she noticed that the stamp on her hand said 'legal'.

"But I'm not. . ."

"Don't worry," he said as she shushed her. "You don't have to drink if you don't want to." He took her by the hand and led her into the club. Rory kind of wanted to pull her hand away from his, but as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and she saw all the people, she hung on to Jess a little tighter. "Beer," he called to the bar tender before he looked to Rory.

"Coke!" she called out. "Just Coke." The bar tender nodded and soon they had their drinks and headed off to find an empty table.

* * *

Lorelai sighed as she flipped through the huge binder of movies Taylor had given her. None of the good movies she and Rory had previously come up with were in the book. She was starting to understand why it was _The Yearling_ every year.

"Here," she said as she but the binder down in front of Charlie. "You pick one." Charlie looked up at her mother before looking at the binder again. She began to pull at the pages while trying to turn them. She eventually got a few pages to flip before she got bored. She heaved a sigh and crawled off to the living room to play. Lorelai heaved a sigh of her own as she picked up the binder to see what was on the pages Charlie had landed on. "_The Yearling_," she read. She stared at it for a moment before she started to laugh. _The Yearling_ it was.

* * *

"They're really great!" Rory yelled to be heard over the band.

"What?" Jess yelled back as he moved them closer to the stage. Rory just laughed and hung on as he pulled her through the crowd.

"Watch it!" came an angry voice from beside Jess. Jess held his hands up, signalling that he was moving on. He continued on his way only to have some one bump into him and shove him back into the same guy he had just hit. Before Rory knew what was going on, Jess had pushed her out of the way and he was trying to get away from the guy who was trying to sucker punch him. The squabble quickly turned into an all out brawl.

"JESS!" she yelled as she tried to keep track of him. She gave up after a moment as the crowd started to rush the fight and she decided to try and make it back up to the bar. "JESS!" she called again as a group of people slammed into her and she stumbled, smashing her wrist against the edge of the stage.

"Come on," she hear as some one grabbed her arm. She looked to see Jess at her side again with a bloody nose as he led her out of the club. She cradled her arm to her chest as they went. "Are you okay?" he asked her when they finally got outside and saw the police cars starting to arrive.

"I hit my wrist," she said. "What about you? You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine," he said as he wiped away the blood with his shirt sleeve. "Are you _sure_ you're okay?" he asked again as he led her further form the club door. He looked up as he saw an ambulance show up and he led her over to them. Just as the paramedics packed Rory off in the ambulance, Jess felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see a cop. He was quickly confronted for his roll in the brawl and Jess soon found him self in a police car, on the way to the station.

* * *

"Hello?"

"Mom?" Rory asked quietly.

"Hey Rory, how was the concert?" Lorelai asked as she paused in her organizing of the Take Out Drawer.

"I need you to be calm," she said, clutching the receiver of the phone tightly.

"Calm about what?" she asked as she stopped moving around the kitchen.

"Calm about what I have to tell you."

"What. . . Where are you?" she asked when she was pretty sure she heard some one asking for a Doctor to go somewhere.

"I'm alright," Rory assured her mother, while summoning the courage to explain what happened.

"Well, of course you're alright. Why wouldn't you be alright?" she asked, starting to panic a little.

"Because, I got in an accident."

"What? What accident? What do you mean you got in an accident?" she demanded, dropping the fast food menus she had been holding in her hands.

"We were at the concert and everything was fine and then someone in the crowd bumped into Jess and he bumped into this other guy and then a fight started. . . ."

"Jess started a fight?"

"No! He was pushed into someone," Rory said quickly.

"But he was still in a fight," Lorelai pointed out.

"But I'm fine and he's fine so there's nothing to worry about."

"Where are you?" Lorelai finally asked. She was going to go and pick them both up immediately.

"I'm in the hospital," Rory said in a tiny little voice that Lorelai hadn't heard since she was about 8 and had been caught lying.

* * *

Lorelai stormed through the emergency room, Charlie half asleep on her shoulder, searching for Rory. She finally found out where she was after threatening to throw a fit in the waiting room.

"Rory, good. Are you okay?" she asked as she rushed over, only to see a Dr. wrapping her arm.

"I'm fine," Rory assured her mother for the millionth time. "Please tell her that I'm fine," she asked the Doctor when Lorelai didn't look convinced.

"She's fine," the Doctor said with a gentle smile.

"Well, then, what's with the wrapping? If she's fine, there'd be no wrapping. There's no wrapping if she's fine," she rambled, beginning to panic again. She started to rub Charlie's back as the baby started to pick up on her mothers agitation.

"She was pushed into the stage. She sustained a minor hairline fracture to her wrist."

"So she broke her wrist?" she asked. This definitely did not fall under the 'fine' category in her books. The Doctor quickly explained that she'd just have to wear a cast for a couple of weeks, that everything was really fine. "And that's it. . . Just the wrist, everything else is fine?"

"She seems perfectly healthy."

"She seems healthy? Did you check everything out?" The Doctor assured Lorelai that they had check out almost everything. Lorelai asked them to be extra thorough and the Doctor nodded, ordering extra x-rays.

"Jess made sure that I was okay before he talked to the police and. . ." Rory started before her mother cut her off.

"Let's just hear about the details later, okay? I just want you to relax now,"

"You're not mad?" Rory asked. She had expected Lorelai to be furious.

"No, I'm not mad," she assured Rory as she sat on the gurney beside her, Charlie finally starting to fall asleep again. "I'm not mad," she said again as the pair of them sat quietly until the Doctor came back, announcing that they were ready to take her to x-ray again. "Smile pretty for the camera," she joked to Rory as she ducked out of the room. Lorelai headed for the waiting room for a moment before she marched towards the door and headed for the car again.

* * *

Lorelai quickly headed back to Stars Hollow and straight to Luke's diner. She was fairly confident that Jess wouldn't be back yet, but Luke might know where he was. She left Charlie asleep in the car and marched up to the door, banging on it until Luke opened it and she stormed into the diner. As soon as she was inside, she frantically started looking for Jess while she also started in on Luke. Luke stared at her in confusion as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"He took her to some club in Hartford, to see a band."

"I know that," Luke said. "I made sure to give him cab fair, so they didn't have to take the bus home."

"And then got into a fight!"

"What?"

"Yeah, a fist fight at the club that was definitely serving alcohol to anyone who walked through the doors!" she told Luke as she tore around his apartment upstairs. "Damnit! Jess!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I saw the 'legal' stamp on the back of Rory's hand that the Doctor was getting ready to plaster!" she yelled at Luke. She turned around and headed outside, the diner suddenly feeling too small. He follower her out, hot on her heels. "If you hadn't brought him here, none of this would've happened!" she yelled at him.

"This is my fault?" he asked her, not exactly sure how the conversation had ended up where it had.

"Yes, it's your fault! You told him to come, you let him stay! Everybody hated him, everybody knew he was trouble but you wouldn't listen and you wouldn't send him home and now my daughter is in the hospital!" she yelled at him. All the anger over all the stupid things Jess had done around town and had said to her and Rory coming out. "Why didn't you put a stop to it at the first sign of trouble? Why didn't you make him leave?" she demanded.

"He's my nephew," Luke shot back, trying to remain calm but finding it difficult. "I had an obligation to take him in, I had an obligation to care for him."

"You had an obligation to this town and to me and to Rory!" she yelled back at him. "Where are you going?" she demanded when he started to head back to the diner.

"I have to find out where Jess is," he said.

"Well, I'll tell you where he's not, he's not in the emergency room having his arm plastered up!" she yelled at him as she quickly got herself between him and the door to the diner.

"Hey! I'm sorry about Rory. You know I care more about her and Charlie than I do myself, but at least you know where Rory is and at least you know that she's okay. Now, I have to find Jess and I have to make sure that he's okay and if that cuts into your screaming time, well that's just too damn bad!" he yelled back at her as he stepped around her and headed into the diner to start making phone calls.

"Go to hell!" Lorelai yelled at his retreating back.

"Right back at ya!" Luke called as he slammed the door to the diner and locked it before disappearing up the stairs to his apartment. Lorelai stared at the door and fumed for a moment as she realised that Charlie had woken up at some point during the argument and was crying the car. She headed over, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She got the baby out and held her for a moment before she got her cell phone out.

"Chris?" she asked with a shaky voice after she had dialled.

* * *

Luke shook his head again as he drove into Hartford. By the time he had gotten back up to the apartment, there was already a message from Jess. He was okay, but he was in the custody of the Hartford Police Department and could Luke please come and get him. When he finally got to the station, the officer in charge filled him in on what had happened. Luke nodded and agreed to take custody of Jess.

"I made sure she was okay," were the first words out of Jess' mouth when he saw Luke after walking out of the back.

"I know you did," Luke said softly as he threw an arm over Jess' shoulders and led him out to the truck.

* * *

Lorelai snuggled down in the chair, Charlie on top of her, as she watched Rory sleep. She knew that she was fine, that she didn't have to sleep there, but she couldn't make herself move. Right now, she needed to keep both of her kids close or she wasn't going to get any sleep at all tonight. She rubbed her forehead a little as she closed her eyes, exhaustion finally setting in.

She woke up some time later and as she remembered where she was and what had happened, she glance left and jumped slightly when she saw Christopher asleep next to her.

"Chris?" she whispered as she reached out to touch his arm.

"What?" he asked quickly as he jumped awake. "Lor. . . Is everything?"

"Come on," she said as she got up slowly, taking the blanket with her to keep Charlie covered. The wandered into the kitchen and Chris shut Rory's door softly behind them. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a really crappy mattress at home," he said with a small smile as they sat at the kitchen table.

"Chris," Lorelai prompted. He quickly launched into a story about how he had rushed to the hospital, but they were already gone so he rushed to the Crap Shack but it was dark so he let himself in and dragged in a chair and here they were.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said, feeling like she was going to cry again.

"Me too," he said as he plucked Charlie from her arms, giving her some time to herself. Chris quickly made some promises about killing Jess and could she provide a photo? Because it would be bad if he killed the wrong kid.

"Well, look at you all springing' into action," she said with a tired smile.

"About time, don't ya think?" he asked as he rubbed Charlie's back.

"It could have been so much worse," she said after a moment of silence, as everything that had happened began to hit her. She clenched her hands into fists as they began to shake. He got up from his chair and pulled her up with his free hand before pulling her in for a tight hug.

"It wasn't. It's okay," he assured her. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"About that fight. . . " she finally said weakly. "I just. . . I didn't mean to. . . "

"No, I shouldn't have. . . "

"But if I implied that. . . "

"You were right," he said. He held her as she finally broke down about the nights events.

* * *

Rory and Lorelai sat quietly in their chairs the next night as Kirk's short film finished playing. They snickered a little about it, and commented that it was too bad Chris had missed it since he had taken Charlie and gone to rustle up some pop corn. Things were getting back to normal already, but word was starting to get around about what had happened to Jess and Rory at the club the night before.

"Last night, Luke picked him up from the police station in Hartford and drove him straight to the bus station, stuck the kid on a bus and sent him home to his mom," Babette told Patty.

"I can't believe Luke would send him off like that," Patty commented.

"Well, I heard the kid wanted to go. I don't know. All I know is that Jess is gone," Babette concluded.

"Well, well, well. What will we do for entertainment around here?" Patty asked as she settled back in her seat.

"Beats the hell outta me."

Lorelai and Rory stared straight ahead at the movie screen. Rory was feeling horrible right now because she knew that everything that had happened last night wasn't Jess' fault, but the whole town already thought that it was and Lorelai was trying to decide exactly how she felt. While she was glad Jess was gone and she wasn't going to have to worry about Rory ending up with him, she also felt horrible that Luke had taken the things she had said to heart and had sent Jess back to his mother.

* * *

"When are you gonna tell me what happened between you and Luke?" Rory asked as she, Lorelai and Charlie headed to Luke's for breakfast. "Was it bad? I mean, I'm sure it was bad, but how bad is bad?" she asked. They hadn't talked much about the accident last week.

"It was nothing," Lorelai said dismissively.

"Really?" Rory questioned.

"Look, I was upset, he was upset, we had a thing," Lorelai said with a shrug, trying to play it off. "It's over, we're fine."

"A thing?"

"A tiny thing."

"A tiny thing?"

"A thinglet, if you will," Lorelai said as she shifted Charlie from one hip to the other.

"You and Luke don't have thinglets very often," Rory pointed out as they crossed the square.

"Oh no, Rory, everybody has thinglets, it's part of being a grown up."

"Well, what did he say?" she asked, not letting this go. "What did you say?"

"Rory, please," Lorelai pleaded with her.

"Well, okay, fine, just answer me this: we are on our way to Luke's, right?"

"Right," Lorelai agreed with a nod.

"And when we get there, will we get in?" Rory asked slowly.

"Of course we'll get in," Lorelai said with a chuckle and a shake of her head. Not get into Luke's, yeah right. Rory continued to question Lorelai, each question getting a little more specific.

"Free refills?" she finally asked.

"In about a month," Lorelai answered, somewhat hesitantly.

"Okay, the thinglet has grown into a thing," Rory announced, very much put out that the fight had been that bad.

"Rory, Luke and I have fought before, God knows we'll fight again, but it's over, it's history," she assured her, using the same tone of voice she had used to assure Rory when she was little. "We'll go in, he'll be crabby, I'll be adorable, he'll forget everything and that, as they say, will be that."

"Okay," Rory said, not completely believing Lorelai. They both came to an abrupt halt outside of Luke's when they saw the crowd. They worked their way to the front of the crowd and were more than a little surprised to see a piece of cardboard stuck to the glass that said _Gone Fishing_. Luke never went on vacation. "It's because of the other night," Rory muttered to Lorelai as they wadded back through the crowd.

"No, it isn't," Lorelai said again to Rory as they headed back home to get the jeep. "And even if it is," she said, acknowledging the small possibility that it might be. "It'll go away. Everything'll be fine."

"I hope you're right," she said as they crossed the square again.

* * *

Rory sighed as she trudged into the house a few days later. She called out to her mother and when she got no answer, she checked the machine.

"Hey you, it's me. I'm gonna be home a little late today, still trying to find Grandpa a Margie. Charlie is with your grandmother so order pizza, money's under the rabbi, hope your arm's feeling okay, Sweets. Buh bye!" Lorelai's voice called out. Rory dropped her backpack by the phone and headed into the kitchen, picking up the Rabbi to get at the money underneath just as the phone rang. She picked it up and listened as Lane quickly rattled off her calling.

"I'm gonna be a drummer!" she exclaimed excitedly. Lane quickly described how she went into the music store and found the drum kit and just knew that this was what she had to do with her life. Rory chuckled a little as Lane abruptly ended the conversation and Rory took the opportunity to call about a pizza.

* * *

"Oh my God," Lorelai muttered on Friday as she came back to the car with burgers and drinks.

"What?" Rory asked as she accepted the bag from her mother through the car window.

"I haven't told them about you yet," Lorelai exclaimed as she headed to the other side of the car, drinks in hand.

"What? You said you were going to do that days ago!" Rory admonished her as Lorelai closed the door and put on her seat belt.

"I know, I didn't know what to say. And then playing secretary for my father. . . It slipped my mind!" Lorelai moaned as she pulled away from the curb.

"How does something like this," Rory waved her cast around. "Slip your mind?"

"Because it's not my arm in the pretty blue cast?" she asked. "Burger?" she asked as Rory quickly reached into the bag and pulled it out. "Ugh," she said after one bite, throwing it back in the bag. "Really not good! I swear, Luke better come back soon or I'm gonna starve to death," Lorelai complained. She put both of her hands on the steering wheel for a moment before she reached back into the bag, fishing out a couple of French fries. "These, however, aren't horrible. Pass one to your sister."

"I'm sorry," Rory said quickly as she leaned around the seat and handed a fry to Charlie. "Luke's gone because of me."

"Oh honey, he is not," Lorelai said again, for what had to be the hundredth time in the week.

"Yes, he is. I got hurt accidentally at that club and then you guys had a fight," Rory said sadly. If the fact that everyone was still blaming Jess wasn't enough, the fact that Luke seemed to be gone because of her was.

"Rory, it isn't your fault. If it's anyone's fault." Rory cut her off.

"It's Jess' fault. Why does everyone in this town think that it is all Jess' fault? I was there too, you know, I was being pushed around in that club too," Rory said, starting to get angry about things. Lorelai let her rant for a moment, glancing over at her every now and then, a concerned look on her face.

"I want you to stop beating yourself up about this. It's over, Jess is gone. Let's forget about this, okay? Please?"

"Fine," she said glumly as she turned to stair out the window of the jeep.

* * *

Lorelai smiled brightly as she left her father. He was doing really well in his new business already, especially since he recovered from her abandonment well and had hired Karen as his new secretary.

"He's really in his element, isn't he?" she asked her mother as she came over. Emily returned her smile as they both turned slightly to watch Richard mingle with some other perspective clients.

"And happier than he's been in year," Emily said as she turned her attention fully to Lorelai. "Oh, there's Rory and Charlie. I was wondering where they. . . What's that on her arm?"  
"What's what on who's arm?" Lorelai asked, trying to buy her self a few more seconds.

"On Rory's arm! Is that a cast?" Emily demanded as she took off towards her granddaughters.

"Oh, I was gonna tell you about that," Lorelai said sheepishly as she trailed after her mother. She accepted the squirmy baby from Rory. At almost 11 months, Charlie wanted to do anything and everything except be held.

"Hi Grandma," Rory said with a wave. She tried to hide her cast a little.

"That is a cast," Lorelai said, fishing a toy out of her purse. She had tossed a few in so she didn't have to drag Charlie's whole bag with them. "She hurt her arm."

"I fractured my wrist," Rory said, holding the cast up for her grandmother's inspection.

"A really tiny fracture. The cast comes off next week," Lorelai said casually, trying to play it down.

"When did this happen?" Emily asked as she looked between her girls.

"Um, last week. I meant to tell you. . . "

"How did this happen?"

"Bees," Lorelai responded quickly since that was the only excuse she had come up with.

"I went to hear a band play at a club and I got pushed into the stage," Rory said, leaving out the key part about a fight. And Jess.

"You let her go to a concert alone?"

"I went with a friend," Rory said before her mother could answer. "I went with Jess, Luke's nephew."

"I thought you were going to keep that boy away from her," Emily said, starting to raise her voice.

"Do we have to talk about this now?" Lorelai asked, trying to end the conversation for everyone's sake. Rory stood back for a moment as her mother and grandmother argued about who's fault all of this was. She bit her tongue, wanting very badly to jump in, but they weren't really providing her with an opportunity to do so.

"This was just an accident," she said finally, talking over everyone. "We were close to the stage and it was crowded and some guy was just looking for trouble. Jess and I got pushed into him and Jess pushed me out of the way and I hit the stage and he ended up in a fight. This is no one's fault but that guy at the club!" Emily and Lorelai both started in on Rory at the same time but Lorelai quickly handed Charlie to Emily and led Rory out into the hall way. As soon as they were out of Richard's office, they started in on each other. Everything they had been holding back over the last week came pouring out and soon they were yelling at the top of their lungs at each other.

"So, no matter what I say, you're just gonna choose to blame Jess?" Rory yelled at her mother.

"Yes, I choose to blame Jess!"

"Just because you hate him?"

"That's right! I'm sorry, but when my daughter comes home broken, I get to hate the guy that broke her. That's how it works! He's gone, I win. You are wearing a cast and I get to hate him forever!" Lorelai yelled back at her.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" They stood a few feet away from each other, trying to calm down before Lorelai broke the silence. They came to an agreement about the subject, but no apologies were given from either Gilmore. Lorelai sighed as she watched Rory leave the office building and head for her bus to go home and work through some of this by herself. With one finally sigh and a final look at her appearance in the reflection of the glass, Lorelai squared her shoulders and marched back into the party to face the stares of 30 some odd business men and the wrath of her mother.

* * *

Rory wandered slowly through town when she got off her bus and she was more than a little surprised to see Luke's truck parked in front of the diner and Luke unloading fishing supplies from the back.

"Hey," she said quietly as she walked over to him.

"Rory," he said, his eyes widened a little and he clutched his fishing rod and tackle box a little tighter. Simple pleasantries were exchanged for a bit, and some what awkwardly, before Luke invited her into the diner for coffee. "Where's your mom tonight?" he asked as he started to make coffee.

"At a party for my Grandpa. Charlie's there too," she said as she took a seat on a stool, folding her arms in front of her on the counter.

"Oh, sounds nice," he said, his back still to her. "Grab yourself a donut," he said and she did just that.

"So, have you heard from him?" she asked after a moment of silence. She heard Luke sigh a little as he shoved the coffee grounds into the machine.

"No. I talked to his mom, though. He got home ok."

"Good, that's good," she said with a nod of her head as she picked at her donut.

"Yeah, good," he echoed, leaning against the back counter, crossing his arms over his chest.  
"What about his stuff?"

"Oh, I'm gonna send it."

"Right, makes sense," she said again, neither of them looking at each other as they finished this exchange. "Luke?" Rory asked after a moment as she finally looked at him.

"Yeah?" He caught her eye and the simply stared at each other for a moment.

"It wasn't his fault," she said earnestly. Luke was pretty sure she sounded a little weepy.

"I know it wasn't," he said just as earnestly before he pushed away from the counter and headed to the store room for a moment. Rory sighed as she watched him go and turned her attention back to the donut in front of her. At least some one believed her that it wasn't all Jess' fault.

* * *


	11. Chapter 11

"Sookie, you do not have to do this," Rory said emphatically as Sookie heaped eggs onto her plate. Rory looked at the ocean of food on her plate as well as on the table.

"What do you mean?" she asked with a smile and a chuckle as she went to put some eggs on the tray of Charlie's high chair. "Feeding my girls, making them happy, I love doing this," she concluded as she put some eggs on Lorelai's plate before putting the pan back on the stove.

"Yeah, so feel the love and pass the salt," Lorelai said with a grin as she broke some banana up for Charlie.

"It makes me feel guilty," Rory complained as she passed the salt to Lorelai.

"Eating can help drown that," Lorelai concluded as she salted her eggs.

"Yeah, yeah, eat, eat. I'm gonna eat too," Sookie said, finally sitting down at the table.

"Gee, can the help sit at the table too?" she asked her mother, sounding more than a little sarcastic.

"As long as they don't sing folk songs, or tell bawdy stories," Lorelai responded with a smile before she leaned over to pick Charlie's juice cup up off of the floor. "Hey, what's with Narcoleptic Nate over there?" she asked when she caught sight of Jackson. Sookie chuckled as she explained about Jackson while he simply groaned ever now and then.

As the girls shared a laugh over Lorelai's aspirins over almonds for Sookie and Jackson's wedding, Charlie began to grow bored with her eggs and decided instead to start watching them as she dropped them over the edge of her tray. "Charlie!" Lorelai admonished when she finally noticed her. Charlie looked her mother in the eye once more as she dropped her last piece over the edge. "Fine, starve," she said, making no moves to put anything else on Charlie's tray.

"See, everything eventually registers. He'll chime in on this in a couple of days," Sookie continued after everything calmed down.

"Days?" Rory asked.

"Days," Sookie confirmed.

"Hey, is Jackson in the house? Let me here you say 'Unh'," Lorelai called out as she reached for her coffee mug.

"Unh," Jackson responded from where he was perched.

"A new toy," Lorelai said with a smirk as she sipped at her coffee.

"Shameless," Rory said with a shake of her head while Sookie snickered into her own eggs. Charlie, on the other hand, flopped back in her seat and tried to decide what to do next.

* * *

"Come on Charlie," Rory called. Charlie looked up from her toy for a moment before she turned back to it. "Come on, stubborn girl, let's go," she said as she walked over and picked the baby up.

"Where are you two going?" Lorelai asked as Rory deposited Charlie in her arms.

"Hold her for a minute. I'm packing so we can go out," she said calmly as she went into her room to pack up a few things and grab a sweater. "You need to study and that means she needs to go away," she replied as she left her room and headed to the foyer to shove some of the things into Charlie's bag before slinging it over her shoulder. "Ready Sparky?" she asked Charlie with a smile as she scooped the eager baby up. "We'll bring home dinner," she said, kissing Lorelai on the cheek. "Get smart!" she called as she and Charlie left the house.

Charlie furrowed her brow as Rory walked them past the car and she began to realize that they weren't going for a ride and Lorelai wasn't coming with them. Charlie sighed a little as they continued on their way, but quickly resigned herself to being carted off without her mother.

Rory checked her watch as they walked towards town before pulling out her cell phone and dialling her grandparents number. She asked Emily if they were going to be home for a while and would they mind some company? Emily replied that the wouldn't and Rory smiled, assuring her that they'd be there in about 45 minutes.

* * *

"Hi Grandma," Rory said brightly as Emily opened the large wooden door. Rory adjusted Charlie on her hip, keeping her from leaning in to try her luck at hitting the door bell again, as they entered the house.

"Where's the car?" Emily asked as she took the baby from her sister.

"At home," Rory replied. "Hi Grandpa," she said with a smile when she saw Richard sitting in the living room.

"Hello Rory," he said with a smile, folding the news paper before standing and coming over to greet his granddaughters. "What brings you two here today?" he asked as she accepted the baby from Emily. Rory couldn't help but smile as Charlie's attention immediately went to Richards bow tie. She could almost swear she could hear the gears in her sisters head turning as she tried to figure out how to undo the colourful silk.

"Well, I'm here to ask the two of you for something," she said firmly as she headed to one of the couches. "Mom is graduating Thursday, and there's going to be a ceremony and I think it would mean a lot to her if you guys were there. It may not seem like it would, but it's true," Rory finished. She watched her grandparents for a moment.

"Well, if it would mean so much to her then why didn't she invite us herself?" Emily asked, rather put out that Lorelai didn't think she could ask this of them.

"Because she doesn't think you'd want to go," she said as she quickly explained how she had found herself in a similar situation once. She quickly assured them that they didn't have to go if they didn't want to. "But, if you do, here are the tickets," she said, rummaging through Charlie's bag until she found the envelope. "It's Thursday, 7 pm. It's indoors, so weather's not an issue. I'd also really appreciate it if you'd keep this between the four of us." Emily and Richard looked at each other for a moment, the tickets sitting loosely in Emily's hand. "So, what have the two of you been up to this weekend?" Rory asked as she sat back on the couch, a small smile settled over her lips. Emily hesitated for a moment before she called to the maid to bring out some scones and tea and a some what awkward conversation began. Things relaxed, however, after Charlie let out a squeal of triumph after finally undoing Richard's bow tie.

* * *

"Well, at least you waited until Charlie was asleep to crack out the margaritas," Rory mused as she picked up a little red book that Lorelai had tossed on the coffee table when she had come home from her final.

"I can be a responsible parent," Lorelai called from the kitchen as she finished blitzing the margaritas. Rory smiled and shook her head as she flopped on to the couch and made herself comfortable. She opened the book and rested her cast against the pages to keep it open. "I am feelin' so good sista, because it's over!" Lorelai announced as she headed to the stereo, adjusting the volume slightly before she came to sit on the coffee table in front of Rory, all the while drinking her margarita through a straw. "No more finals, no more studying, no more school, the pressure's off," she said gleefully and she quickly launched into how much pressure she had been under. Rory finally looked up from the Life Plan book when Lorelai started to describe the pressure she had been feeling on her chest as two giant brothers.

"Mother," Rory corrected after Lorelai had explained about the two giant brothers, Clem and Clem, and their mothers.

"Mothers. There were two Clems."

"Yeah, 'cause they were brothers," Rory said, trying to get through Lorelai's drunken haze.

"Yes, so they had mothers," she replied calmly, not understanding why Rory couldn't figure this out. Rory quickly gave up and went back to the book as Lorelai got up to refill her drink. While Rory contemplated pointing out how quickly she had downed that drink, she decided against it.

"What's this 'Life Plan' book thing?" Rory called, changing to subject. Lorelai called out that it was a gift from the college and after confirming that she had yet to consume too many margaritas, she seated herself on the coffee table once again.

"Okay, here's an interesting question for you._ Have you given any thought to how children will work into your future plans?_"

"Well, they're not gonna stand in my way, that's for sure. I mean, I plan to have some, of course, but I'm just gonna knock 'em out and, uh, have Nanny catch 'em and care for 'em, make sure Mick Jagger doesn't come anywhere near 'em and then just return 'em to me when they're 21," Lorelai supplied with a satisfied smile, finally releasing her hold on the blender full of margarita's by putting it on the table beside her.

"Well, what about me and Charlie?" Rory asked, closing the Life Plan book.

"While you are my favourite eldest child, Charlie is my favourite youngest child. The two of you get to stay by my side."

"Well, I think I speak for Charlie when I say don't we feel privileged," Rory concluded with a smile as the phone rang. As Rory jumped up to get it, Lorelai called out to her about what to do if Mick Jagger was on the other end. "Hello?" Rory asked, ignoring her mother.

"Hi," Jess replied on the other end, shuffling a little closer to the pay phone, trying to block out the many people walking down the busy New York side walk behind him. "Hello?" he asked when he was greeted with silence. Rory finally collected her wits about her and after making excuses about the music being loud, she ducked into her room, the phone still clutched tightly in her hand.

"Hi," she finally said again after closing the door.

"What's up?" Jess asked, trying to stay casual.

"Nothing. What about you?"

"Same," he replied. The pair fell into silence for a moment. "How's your arm?" he asked.

"It's good, doesn't hurt at all," Rory said quickly. "Lane has taken it upon her self to provide me with a new sticker every time I see her, so it's looking pretty cool right now."

"Good," Jess said.

"What have you been doing?" Rory asked as she sat down on her bed.

"Nothin' much. Just hanging out . . . In the park, mostly," Jess said, shoving his free hand into his pocket to warm it up a little. He glanced over his shoulders to make sure no one was waiting behind him.

"Central Park?"

"Washington Square Park," he corrected with a small smile. "It's cooler. It's where David Lee Roth got busted."

"Right, right. I hope he's got it together now," Rory supplied with a smile of her own. "Jess?" Rory asked after a long moment of silence fell over them.

"I should go," he finally said. "Long distance and all."

"Yeah. Long distance," Rory said sadly.

"So, I'll see ya," he said quickly.

"Yeah, see ya," she replied as they hung up. Rory stared at the phone in her hand for a long moment before she flopped back on the bed, still in the dark, as she tried to figure out what exactly had made him call.

* * *

Rory yawned as she climbed off the bus and headed towards Chilton. She hadn't slept well last night after the call from Jess. There had been more that she had wanted to say to him, but he had ended the call. She supposed she could have convinced him to stay on the line, but she hadn't. She met up with Paris as they neared the school and she let her mind drift as Paris told her about her discussion with her advisor.

"So I told her, 'Look missy. . .'."

"You called your advisor Missy?" Rory asked, tuning back in for a moment.

"It was attitudinal," Paris said quickly as she continued on with her story. Rory sighed as she tuned to obnoxious blonde out again, but continued to follow her towards Chilton. As they stepped past the main gate, Rory stopped in her tracks and Paris kept walking, and talking, not realizing that Rory had stopped walking. Rory looked up at the buildings for a moment before she turned on her heel and hurried back the way she had come.

* * *

"Are they closed?" Sookie demanded of Lorelai who was currently sitting at the kitchen counter, her hands in her lap and her eyes squeezed shut.

"They're closed," she assured the chef, not even trying to keep the amused smile off of her face. She groped around her waist for a moment before she got a hold of the baby monitor that was clipped there and put it on the table.

"Are you sure?" Sookie asked again, a smile on her face.

"I'm sure," Lorelai assured her one last time.

"Okay, one second," Sookie said her smile growing, as she placed the large cake on the counter in front of Lorelai. "And open, open, open!" she said excitedly.

"Awe, you made me a tassel hat cake!" Lorelai exclaimed when she saw it. She got up from the stool to wrap her arms around Sookie.

"Filled with two pounds of crushed chocolate-covered espresso beans," she added as she hugged back.

"You're evil," Lorelai said as she tried to stop her mouth from watering at the thought of all that caffeine.

"And you're graduating," Sookie said as she gave Lorelai one last squeeze. Lorelai stared at her cake for a moment longer before sticking out a finger to swipe some of the icing before Sookie handed over her graduation pictures.

"Ha, you're stoned," Lorelai snickered when she saw the pictures. Sookie blushed and explained that though she hated it, peer pressure had gotten to her. The smile fell off of Lorelai's face as she noticed how proud Sookie's parents looked, but she didn't have much time to dwell on that thought as Michel came in and her phone rang shortly after.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lor, how you doing?" Chris asked with a smile.

"Christopher," she said, more for Sookie's benefit then her own. "I'm good, I'm excited."

"You should be, it's a big day. How's Charlie?" he asked with a smile.

"She's great," Lorelai said with a smile. "A regular chatter box. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts walking before her birthday."

"Well, maybe I'll get lucky and I'll be around for that."

"Planning a trip?"

"It's not every day your kid has her first birthday," he said as he balanced the phone between his ear and his shoulder as he riffled through some papers.

"That's very true," she agreed with a smile.

"Did you get my present?" he asked as he milled around his office.

"What present?" she asked and Chris quickly explained. "Did a basket come for me?" she asked Michel. He said that one had, but that it was heavy and he had just dropped it. Lorelai rolled her eyes as she left the kitchen. "My crack staff has just informed me of its arrival and I'm going to find it," she told him. "Wow," was all she could say when she saw the monster basket. The pair chatted and joked as she went through the basket. "Ooh, a necklace. And the pearl almost looks real," she said.

"Well, it better look very real, because it is," Christopher said as he sat back in his chair, pleased with himself.

"That's not funny," she said as she continued to stare at the jewelery. She balanced the cell phone between her shoulder and her ear so she could finger the pearl in the necklace.

"This is not a funny gift," he clarified. "I think you're awesome, Lor. With everything you do and raising Rory and Charlie. . . you're superwoman."

"Wow," was all she could get out as she continued to stare at the gift.

"Have a great day. I wish I could be there. Take lots of pictures for me," he said as he stood up again, checking the time and gathering some files.

"Ugh, the camera. I forgot the camera," she said, dropping her head on her shoulders.

"Look in the basket," he told her as he straightened his tie one last time.

"You thought of everything," she said when she pulled out a disposable camera.

"Have a great night."

"Thanks, you too. Bye," she said with another smile as they finally hung up.

* * *

"Sookie!" Lorelai called into the phone the day of her graduation.

"What?" Sookie asked as she danced around the kitchen.

"What do I do about Charlie?" she asked as she finished putting on her makeup.

"Gonna need a little more, hon," Sookie said with a chuckle.

"This week has been so crazy that I completely forgot that an 11 month old isn't going to have a blast at this thing," Lorelai said with a sigh as she turned her attention to Charlie who was currently standing in her crib, chewing on the railing.

"You can always bring her along," Sookie said. "She's not that noisy, just load her up with snacks and books and Jackson and I can keep an eye on her."

"I just hate being that person who brings a baby to something that babies shouldn't be brought to," Lorelai lamented as she began to sift through the closet, picking out a dress for Charlie to wear.

"It'll be fine," Sookie assure her. "At the first sign of trouble, I will get up and leave the room with her."

"Fine," Lorelai said. "I'll drop her off on my way to Hartford."

"I'll be on the look out," Sookie assured her. "It'll be fine Honey," she threw in at the last moment before they hung up.

"Okay, let's get you pretty," she said to the baby as she pulled a pink dress out of the closet and tossed it and the phone onto the bed before she headed to the dresser to pick out a shirt and tights. "You have to be super well behaved at this thing," Lorelai said as she quickly changed Charlie's diaper. "I mean it. On better behaviour than you are when we go to Grandma and Grandpa's house," she tacked on as she wrangled the baby into the tights and long sleeved shirt. "And don't feel obligated to stay awake, feel free to fall asleep 5 minutes before things start and wake up 5 minutes after things end," she finished as she did up the snaps on the shoulders of the dress. She quickly clipped her fly away bangs to the side before she grabbed Charlie, her sweater and her shoes before she headed downstairs.

* * *

Rory smiled to herself as she finally saw Washington Square Park. She had gotten lost a few times on her way here, but now she was home free.

"Hi," she said to Jess as she came up behind him. She smiled as he jumped a little, but covered it quickly.

"How ya doing?" Jess asked as he shifted on the bench to see her better.

"Good, how about you?"

"Good," he replied with a nod as he dog eared the page he had been reading before shutting the book. "You hungry?"

"Starved," she replied with a smile.

"I know a place," he said as he got up off the bench and hesitated beside Rory for a moment. They shared an awkward moment before they headed off.

Jess and Rory shared a pleasant, upbeat conversation as they headed towards Jess' coveted lunch spot. He laughed as she tried to prove to him that she was urban and fitting into the New York way of life even though this was her first real experience in the city.

"I'm disappointed," Jess smirked when Rory refused to share her withering stare with him. "So, your arm's really okay?" he asked, glancing at her cast.

"Yeah, it looks worse than it is," she said, holding it up and rotating it a little.

"I like this Emily chick," Jess commented as he grabbed a hold of her cast to get a better look at the sticker. "Friend of yours?"

"She's a friend to all of us dispossessed," she said with a smirk of her own.

"So, here's our lunch place," he said as they came to a stop.

"A hot dog stand?" she asked. She was more than a little shocked to see that this was his lunch place.

"Hey, I eat here everyday. It's nothing fancy, but," he said with a shrug.

"No, I love it," Rory said quickly, cutting him off. "It's perfect." Rory offered him a smile that he returned before ordering. Rory asked for the same and they fell into silence for a moment before Jess nervously asked about Luke. An awkward conversation about Luke's fishing trip ensued and was mercifully put out of it's misery when the vendor handed over their hot dogs.

"Oh my God, this is really good!" Rory exclaimed after her first bite. Jess chuckled and told her he was glad she was enjoying it. Upon confirming that she had more than a little time to spend with him, he led her towards the subway, intent on taking her to this great little record shop he knew of.

"Where are you going?" she asked as he ducked into the subway.

"Subway," he replied simply.

"I thought we were gonna walk."

"It's 15 blocks. Come on, I think you'll like it," he said, his smirk reappearing.

"Do they allow hot dogs in the subway?" Rory asked innocently as she moved to join him.

"You are so an out-of-towner," he said with a smile and a shake of his head.

* * *

Lorelai rolled her eyes as she stalked back to the gown room. Her mother had hired a camera man. For the life of her, she could not figure out what had been going through her mother's mind. Or her fathers for letting her hire Raul.

Lorelai heaved a final sigh as she approached the rack of gowns yet again and returned to her task of selecting a gown.

* * *

"Oh my God!" Rory exclaimed excitedly as she pulled a plastic covered record sleeve out of the rack.

"What?" Jess asked, turning away from the rack he was looking through.

"Look!" she exclaimed again as she raked her eyes over the cover of the record.

"The Go-Go's?" he quizzed her as he came to stand beside her. "You must have that one."

"No, for my mom," Rory exclaimed. "This was her favourite group when she was my age, and it's signed by Belinda. This would be the perfect graduation present. I've been looking for something all week long, and I couldn't find anything and now I have Belinda!" she said with a large smile as she pointed to the record to emphasise her excitement.

"Graduation?" Jess questioned.

"Oh, from college, from business classes," she told him, still not taking her eyes off of her treasure.

"I'm surprised she has time for anything except lighting darts on fire and throwing them at my picture."

"Well, between that and making sure Charlie doesn't get away from her. . ."

"Uh-huh," he replied with a bit of a smirk. "Go on, get it. She'll like it," he assured her with a nod towards the counter.

"Thank you so much for bringing me here. This was fate," she assured him, clutching the record tightly.

"Yes, it was," he said as he kept his eyes on her.

"And in return, I just might show you my withering stare," she said with a smirk of her own and a glance over her shoulder.

"I'm a lucky man," he quipped as he watched Rory bounce up to the counter to pay before he turned his attention back to the records again.

* * *

Rory sighed as the bus pulled away from the curb and headed for the highway. While she had told Jess that she had showed up because he had left without saying good bye, she wasn't really sure if she believed that. Her mother had been telling her that maybe she was falling for Jess and she had been denying it.

As the bus continued on it's way to Hartford, the events of the day had begun to sink in. She had cut class and run off to New York to spend the day with a boy that wasn't even her boy friend. She'd had a great time with Jess. They'd had fantastic conversations, good food and a great time in that music store. She'd had more fun with Jess than she'd ever had with Dean. She supposed that was just mostly because there was only so much to do in Stars Hollow and they had done it all, several times, in the three months they had been dating.

She continued trying to wrap her brain around her own actions as she bent down to pull a book from her back pack. She settled the record on her lap, smiling as she glanced down at it one last time before she settled back in her seat and opened her book. She sighed once more, pushing her actions out of her head as she lost herself in her book.

* * *

Lorelai cocked an eye brow as she listened to Liza and Zach yell at each other, it was quite a performance and she was welcome for the entertainment to distract her from the butterflies that were starting to appear in her stomach.

"Hey, a bunch of us are going to Shakey's afterwards for a pizza. You wanna come?" Liza asked as she finished looking in the mirror of Lorelai's compact.

"Aw, I'm going out with my kids after, but it sounds like fun," Lorelai said as she accepted the compact back from Liza. Just as Liza was about to reply, Zach came back into the room and began to tell everyone about Emily and her camera man. As Lorelai fought the urge to sink into her chair, she weakly agreed with everything the other students were saying.

"There's our little graduate. Oh my God, look at that gown. You look just like the Statue of Liberty," Sookie exclaimed as she came into the room, Charlie in her arms and Jackson following behind her.

"Ah, all big and stony?" she asked with a smile as she accepted Charlie from Sookie.

"No, you look amazing," Sookie clarified as she straightened Charlie's dress. Lorelai smiled as she shifted the conversation to Jackson and his suit. Sookie soon pointed out that Emily was in the hall, with her camera man and as Lorelai tried to shush her and keep it quiet, Zach bust in to announce that there was now a sound guy to accompany the cameraman. As the insults continued to fly over this development, a florist came in and presented Lorelai with her choice of corsages, quickly blowing her cover.

"So, that's why you didn't want to get pizza, 'cause it's below you?" Liza demanded as she turned on Lorelai, hands on her hips.

"Oh, no, no, no, Liza, pizza is not below me," Lorelai insisted as she shifted Charlie to the other hip and rubbed her back a little. "Believe me, I love pizza, we love pizza. I eat tons of pizza. It's one of my four major food groups: candy, popcorn, and pizza . . . See? It's two of my food groups, that's how much I love pizza!" Lorelai rambled on, trying to diffuse the potential argument that was brewing between her and the rest of her business class.

"I want to believe you," Liza said quietly as she turned on her heel and left the room.

"Enjoy your champagne and caviar at The Ritz, Your Highness," Zach spit out as she rushed out to join Liza.

"I am not rich!" Lorelai called after them as Charlie began to fuss. "It's okay," she muttered to Charlie as she turned her attention back to Sookie and Jackson.

"Come here Pumpkin," Sookie said quietly as she took Charlie from Lorelai, bribing her with a pacifier. Charlie let a bit of a shuddering sigh out as she accepted the pacifier and laid her head on Sookie's shoulder. She understood something was going on, something that she needed to stay with Sookie for. "Maybe we should sit in the back with her, make the sneaking out easier?"

"Probably a wise plan. Oh, can you hang onto all my stuff for me? I don't want to leave it here," Lorelai said, resting a hand on Charlie's back.

"Will do," Jackson said as he accepted her coat and bag on top of the baby bag he was already carrying.

"Thank you," she said as she dropped a kiss on Charlie's head. "Bye," she called after them as they left the room.

"Oh, you don't trust your valuables around us poor kids, huh?" Zach said angrily.

"Knock it off, Zach!" she yelled at him as she turned her back on the whole group and tried to collect herself.

* * *

"Hey Kitten," Sookie whispered with a smile as Rory dashed into the auditorium and sat down beside the chef.

"Hey Sookie, Jackson. Hey Charlie," she said, greeting everyone as she pulled her Chilton sweater off and took off her tie, trying to look a little less like she was in her school uniform. Charlie glanced at Rory and simply reached out a hand. Rory held out her hands, offering Charlie the option of moving over to her, but all she wanted was Rory to hold her hand.

"What's that?" Sookie asked, catching sight of the record.

"An original copy of The Go-Go's debut album, signed by Belinda," Rory said proudly.

"The perfect gift," Sookie agreed as she passed it to Jackson so he could have a look at it.

"I've heard of this shop," Jackson said when he saw the store name on the price tag. "When did you find time to go to New York?" Rory paled as she tried to come up with an excuse as Jackson and Sookie both turned to look at her expectantly. As she fumbled for an excuse, the lights dimmed and the ceremony started. Rory let a breath of relief go as she sat back in her chair.

* * *

Rory flipped through the program as the ceremony dragged on. When she grew tired of that, she let her mind wander to possible excuses as to how and when she found the time to get to New York. Her first option to avoid all of this, of course, was going to be to take the price tag off of the record and hope Jackson and Sookie didn't spill the beans.

She sighed when she thought about this. While it was plausible that Jackson would bite his tongue about things, Sookie, try as she might, would inevitably slip up at some point. Rory rolled her neck a little as she considered this, but was interrupted when she noticed her grandmother's film crew rush up to catch more shots of her mother.

"John Lawrence Gilfer. . . Lorelai Victoria Gilmore. . . Gretchen Greeman. . . " Rory perked up when she heard her mother's name being called and she clapped furiously as she glowed in pride, a smile nearly splitting her face.

Lorelai paused in front of the flag that was resting on stage. She looked out over the crowd, glancing to where she assumed Sookie, Jackson, Charlie and Rory were before she shifted her glance and found her parents in the crowd. She quirked her mouth into a small smile as she saw the looks of pride on her parents faces. She quickly moved her tassel from one side to the other before she headed off the stage and back to her seat.

* * *

"Thank you daddy," Lorelai replied quietly, a little tearfully, as she hugged her father in thanks for the envelope he gave her as a gift for her graduation. They separated and Richard headed off to join Emily. A tight smile graced her face as she watched her parents leave, glad that she had finally done something that had made them proud of her and she hoped that the picture of the three of them would reflect that. Just as she was about to turn and look for the rest of her group, she heard Sookie call out to her.

"Hey, we're so proud of you!" she exclaimed as she threw an arm around Lorelai, Charlie still held in the other arm.

"Yeah, you were great up there," Jackson agreed.

"I'm so proud of my little graduate!" Rory squealed as she rushed up and threw her arms around her mothers neck. Lorelai quickly pulled her eldest tight against her as she hugged her back.

"Well thanks guys," she said with a smile as she and Rory pulled apart. Lorelai still kept an arm thrown over Rory's shoulders while she kept one around Lorelai's waist.

"You wanna go out to eat? Celebrate a little?" Sookie asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I do. And Rory, because I'm your mother and I love you and I would hate to be embarrassed by you, I stashed a cute little dress for you in the jeep. It's hanging up in the back seat."

"I have never loved you more than I do right now," she said with a smile.

"Meet us back here," she said. "Keys are in my bag." Rory nodded as she took off to liberate the car keys from her mother's purse so she could change. "Hey Baby Girl," she said with a smile as Charlie finally woke up and realised that her mother was within arms reach. Lorelai accepted the sleepy baby from Sookie and held her close.

"Wait a minute. . . Aspirins instead of Jordan Almonds?" Jackson asked. "But we already bought the almonds!"

"Wow. Now that's the longest anything's ever taken," Sookie snickered as Jackson finally remembered the aspirin over almonds joke from a few days ago.

"My family's not gonna get the joke. Can't we just use the almonds?" Jackson begged, not understanding that it was all a joke.

"Okay, sweetie, calm down," Sookie said with a smile as she explained the situation to Jackson. Just as he began to regain his cool, Rory dashed back in to meet up with everyone again.

* * *

"Happy?" Rory asked as she and Lorelai, with Charlie in her arms, made their way to the house after getting home from dinner with Sookie and Jackson.

"Very," she said with a smile and a sigh as they entered the house. "Thank you for convincing me to go to the ceremony."

"You're very welcome," she said. "And you really like the record?"

"It's amazing!" she said as she headed up the stairs, Rory trailing behind her. "Where on earth did you find it?"

"Well, in this little record store a friend showed me," she said, keeping things as vague as possible.

"And this record store was in a building? And this friend was breathing?" Lorelai asked with a smile as she laid a sleeping Charlie on the bed before she went looking for a clean diaper and pyjamas for the baby.

"Uh, yeah," Rory said as she handed Lorelai the things she was looking for.

"Where did you find it, Rory? Did you steal it?" Lorelai asked with a chuckle.

"No!" she exclaimed. "I, uh, I found it in New York."

"New York?"

"Jess took me to this little record store and there it was," she said with a shrug as she took a seat on the bed beside her sister. She watched as he mother's hands stopped moving.

"Jess took you to the little record store in New York," Lorelai said slowly after a moment, glancing at Rory as she went back to getting the baby ready for bed. "And when did you meet Jess in New York?" Rory swallowed hard but didn't answer. "Rory?" Lorelai asked again as she finished.

"Today," she answered in a little voice. "I went today. I cut school and got on a bus and went to New York," she finally spilled out.

"You went to New York to see Jess," Lorelai said as she finally moved Charlie from the bed to her crib. Rory nodded, but stayed silent as Lorelai returned to take a seat on the bed beside her eldest.

"Could I have had a stroke? What does a stroke feel like? It had to be a stroke. It made me some one else, and after his phone call last night. . . "

"That was him?" Lorelai asked, vaguely remembering the phone ringing during their celebration.

"It did something to me, I don't know what! If I were to write this down in my diary and I would read it, I would be like _Who is this freak? This isn't me. This isn't my diary._ I wouldn't do this. . . I wouldn't skip school when I have finals coming up to go and see a guy that isn't even my guy!" she said, ending in a harsh whisper. Her rant may have started to rush out of her, but she still had enough sense not to get too loud.

"Oh my God, take a breath," Lorelai said quickly as she raked her eyes over Rory's face, trying to figure out what exactly was going on. "Nobody wants to say this any less than me, but I. . . maybe you don't have a medical condition or a mental problem."

"Then what? Did I briefly fall into an alternate reality?"

"Maybe, honey, you are falling for Jess," Lorelai finally got out as she pulled Rory close.

"No," Rory said firmly.

"Well. . ."

"I am not falling for Jess," she insisted again. "He's rude and careless and mean and not my type."

"Rory, you've dated one guy, how do you know what your type is?" Lorelai asked. "Look, I hate to say this, but Jess is smart and he reads as much, if not more, than you do and, from what I've heard, he likes the same music and bands as you do. It's not that far fetched." The pair fell into silence for a long moment, each looking everywhere but at each other.

"I can't fall for Jess," Rory finally said quietly.

"And why not?"

"Because he's all the way in New York and he's never coming back."

"Rory," Lorelai started but Rory quickly got up off the bed and rushed downstairs, not wanting to carry on this conversation any longer. Lorelai sat on the bed for a while after Rory left, trying to figure out exactly what this all meant for them now. With a sigh, she heaved herself up off the bed and headed to Charlie's crib. "Don't feel the need to grow up any faster than you already are," she whispered to the baby as she leaned over the rail. Charlie sighed in her sleep and rolled over. Lorelai ran a hand down Charlie's back before she headed to her closet to dig up her own pyjamas.

* * *

One more part! W00t!! I'll probably start posting Season 3 a few weeks after 2 is done.  



	12. Chapter 12

Well, here it is, that 'season finale'. Phew! Thanks, as always to all my lovely reviewers, and Ky for reading everything I send her, even when she didn't really want to.

Yes, Season three is well underway. 133 pages and counting. Author Alert me if you want to know when I start posting Season 3 as I will be posting it as a new story.

* * *

"That's 12," Lane pointed out as she, Rory and Charlie sat in Luke's, eating breakfast. With the graduation behind them, and Sookie and Jackson's wedding fast approaching, Rory had had enough of the rift between her mother and Luke. She was going to fix this the only way she knew how, tough love.

"Mmm. . . Two more and she'll come in," Rory said, glancing out the window before she fed Charlie a piece of blueberry pancake off of her fork

"I don't know," Lane said, doubtfully, as she watched Lorelai through the window. "She's been walking back and forth out there for twenty minutes and she still hasn't made it to the door."

"Yeah, but look how much closer to the building she's gotten," Rory said with a smile and shrug as she offered Charlie another bite of pancake.

"You're cruel," Lane clarified as she turned back to her eggs.

"Tough love, baby," Rory replied with a shrug. "Oops, I think she's coming in," Rory said, catching one last glance of Lorelai through the window.

"How can you tell?" Lane asked, staring at Lorelai.

"She's got shoe sale face on," Rory answered casually with a shrug as she turned back to her breakfast and Lorelai breezed in and sat heavily at the table. Charlie jumped a little in her chair, surprised by the interruption.

"Okay, I did it. I'm in," Lorelai said, clutching her purse as she brushed the hair out of her face.

"Good girl," Rory said as she and Lane each ate a few more bites.

"It wasn't so bad," she said as she pulled a menu towards her. "Took awhile, but not so bad. Wait, why are you eating?" she asked, finally realising that Lane, Rory and Charlie all had food in front of them.

"You took thirty minutes to come in," Rory answered as she offered Charlie the last bite of pancake and her juice cup.

"But, I'm here now and hey, I'm like cheese," she said, desperate to not be left alone in Luke's.

"What?" Lane asked as she finished her own meal.

"She gets better with time," Rory supplied as Lane nodded. "Sorry Gouda, we've got school," she said as she and Lane stood and gathered their things.

"But. . "

"Order breakfast and I'll leave you the paper."

"No, but. . ."

"I'll see you tonight and Charlie will still be here to keep you company," Rory told her, ignoring her pleas as she grabbed her back pack and dropped a kiss on Charlie's head and one on Lorelai's cheek.

"Lane, don't leave me!" Lorelai pleaded, desperately.

"You'll do fine!" Rory said once more and she and Lane left the diner. Lorelai sighed as she watched her buffers leave the diner. She turned her attention to Charlie who had her cup in one hand and was drinking as she drew patterns in the syrup on the tray of her high chair. Charlie stopped drawing for a moment as she looked over at her mother for a moment before she offered her sticky hand to her mother. "Hold that thought," she told the baby as she lifted herself from her chair and headed to the counter. "Hey," she said to Luke.

"Hello," he answered tensely, his attention still on the receipts in his hands.

"So, I was wondering if you had a cloth sitting around. I mean, you put any child under 3 together with something sticky and you always need a cloth."

"Okay," Luke replied as she turned and grabbed the cloth he kept for cleaning tables and handed it to Lorelai without really even looking at her. She took it from him and stood in front of him for a moment longer.

"So, this is how it's gonna be with us now, huh?" she asked. She asked if he was freezing her out and when she didn't believe that, she asked if he had gotten her apology note. He quickly said that he had and that he had really enjoyed the Garfield stationary and he understood that she was exaggerating how many times she had actually apologized. "Stop," she finally said.

"Stop what?"

"Oh, stop this robot talk. If you're mad, just act like you're mad," she told him, sounding defeated.

"I'm not mad at you," he said, his tone remaining even with no inflection of emotion.

"You're being really, really unfair," she told him, almost sounding like she was pleading. "Rory was in the hospital."

"Lorelai," he said, cutting her off. "What is it exactly that you want me to do? I'm not mad, I'm not holding a grudge, I heard your apology. I feel like I'm being polite, I listened to you go on about your kid having sticky hands. What would make you happy?" He finally looked up from the receipts and into her eyes.

"I want Luke back," she said with a bit of a sigh.

"He's standing right here," he told her, turning back to the receipts again.

"No, he's not," she said with a sigh as she grabbed the rag and headed back to the table. She quickly pulled Charlie's tray off of the chair and cleaned her up. She dropped the cloth on the table before she grabbed the baby and her bag and stalked out of the diner, towards the Inn.

* * *

Rory sighed as her hand hesitated and her pen hovered about the article she was writing for the Franklin about the up coming student government elections. She had some how just agreed to run for vice president with Paris and she wasn't exactly sure how it happened.

Well, that was a lie. She knew it had happened because Paris has suggested that Harvard might reject her if she didn't have participation in the student government on her transcript. With one last sigh, she returned her pen to paper and finished what she had been writing before getting up and heading to her locker.

* * *

Rory shook her head as her mother held her casted arm to her ear and continued on with her Casty bit as she kept a hand on Charlie's leg to make sure she stayed put on the exam table beside her. She happily pulled her arm from her mother's grasp as Dr. Sue came into the room, ready to remove the cast from her arm.

"This one here? Wait, which one? Hey, you in the white coat, come on, point a finger!" Lorelai and Rory heard from out side the office.

"Dad?" she asked, looking at Lorelai over her shoulder.

"Christopher?" she asked as she opened the door of the exam room.

"Aha, there you are. Is it still on?" he asked as she slipped into the room and closed the door.

"What are you doing?" Lorelai asked as she plucked Charlie from the exam table as the doctor got ready to remove Rory's cast. Chris ignored her in favour of shaking the Doctors hand.

"Great," Chris said after the Doctor was ready to start. "And Doctor, if at all possible, we'd like to keep the arm," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, I'll try my best," Dr. Sue said with a smile. Lorelai returned it as she pressed Charlie's head to her shoulder, covering her exposed ear with her hand as the Dr. started up the cast saw.

* * *

As the quartet wandered from the Dr.'s office, Charlie now in Chris' arms, Rory's political ambitions were brought to light for all to mock. As Christopher suggested that they sneak in and tamper with the votes, their plans for the weekend came out.

"Thursday is Sookie's rehearsal dinner," Lorelai said as they strolled down the street.

"Oh well, I guess you'll just have to put your trust in a democratic system. Good luck with that," he said to Rory with a smile. Lorelai quickly invited Chris to Sookie's rehearsal dinner and after some hemming and hawing, Christopher agreed to join them. He grinned away as he tossed his free arm over Rory's shoulders, pulling her close. He felt more content at this moment then he had in a vary long time.

* * *

"Is it safe to leave Charlie in there?" Chris asked as he and Lorelai took a seat on out side on Sookie's front stairs.

"Babette and Patty will cling to her until we bribe them with alcohol to get her back," she said with a shrug as she settled herself beside him, handing him the bottle of wine she had brought with her.

"I hope the second act's as good as the first one," he joked as he dropped his coat over her shoulders.

"It's a wedding. Things are supposed to be horrible," she said with a waive of her hand. Chris snickered as they each took another pull from the wine bottle and quickly began discussing all the Brigadoon references Lorelai had thought up as soon as she had seen Jackson holding his kilt.

"Well, I'm begging you, take plenty of pictures of this wedding because I have a feeling it's gonna be a classic," he said, still grinning away.

"You know," she said casually, staring at her hands. "If you're gonna be in town for the day, you should just come with us and see all the fireworks for yourself."

"Okay," he said immediately.

"Okay?" she asked, not really believing that he had just agreed so easily.

"Yeah."

"Just like that, okay?" she asked again, shifting so she could look at him easier.

"Well, if Sookie doesn't mind," he said with a shrug.

"What's going on with you?" she asked, eying him cautiously.

"What do you mean?" he asked, offering a chuckle.

"I mean, mister suddenly I'm everywhere. How come you can just agree to come to the wedding?"

"Because I can," he answered simply. Lorelai pressed him a little longer and he finally admitted that things between him and Sherry were officially on the rocks. She was out of town and he was looking for an apartment. They fell into silence for a moment before Lorelai picked up the conversation again.

"Well then, it's decided," she said, throwing her hands in the air. "You'll come with me to Sookie's wedding and you'll make sure I stop one or two Brigadoon-isms shy of Jackson taking me out with a bagpipe."

"It would be my pleasure," he said with a smile, patting her leg.

* * *

Lorelai sighed a little as she fiddle with the ribbons she had just hung on one of the sconces. She stepped back and observed her handy work, thankful that she decided to leave Charlie at home with Rory for the night. She definitely hadn't meant to stay this late, but every time she finished one task, she found something else that needed to be done.

"Well, look who's got Martha Stewart locked in a basement" Chris called out as he came down the stairs from his room and found Lorelai in the lobby. "Did you do all this?"

"Yeah, I did. How's it look?' she asked. He replied that it looked great before relating his nights activities to Lorelai. Lorelai snickered as he admitted to eating ten thousand pillow mints in one sitting.

"Need some help?" he offered as they collapsed onto the couch. They sat in silence for a moment before Lorelai replied the she didn't need any help and asked if she had gotten up and gone back to work.

"Yes, you did," he replied with a smile as he dropped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her close. She sighed and closed her eyes, rattling on about how now was not the time to loaf and how she had watched Sookie and Jackson's whole love story.

"Hi," she said with a sleepy smile as she finished her speech.

"Hi," he said simply in return as he dipped his head and kissed her.

"What was that?" she asked quietly when they pulled apart.

"I have no idea," he said in return as they drifted together again. "One more time and maybe I'll have an explanation," he said quickly as he pulled her close again and kissed her long and slow. When they broke apart, Lorelai quickly began trying to talk the two of them out of this while Chris calmly offered reasons as to why they should. "So, what do you say?" he asked quietly. She heaved a sigh as she pulled away from him and got up off the couch. He watched her wander towards the doorway as she considered her options. His heart sped up as she returned to the couch and took his hand. She pulled him up from the couch and slowly wandered towards the stair case that would lead them up to his room.

* * *

Lorelai crept down the stairs later that night, intent on snooping around the kitchen until she found something to bring back to the room for her and Christopher to snack on. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Sookie in her wedding dress and veil, an apron around her waist as she frantically pulled sugar flowers off of her wedding cake. She quickly stepped in and pulled the frosting covered spatula out of her hands before talking her into putting down the piping bag she had picked up. Sookie quickly spilled out her fears about her wedding day and how she had ended up in the kitchen of the Independence Inn at such an ungodly hour.

"I need to stop obsessing on this. Tell me something," she finally said.

"Like what?" Lorelai asked, pulling the robe a little tighter around her naked body.

"I don't know. Anything. Tell me something to make me stop thinking about this," she said, sounding a little desperate.

"I just slept with Christopher," she muttered with a smile.

"That'll work," Sookie said, her eyes nearly popping out of her head after hearing that. They quickly began girl talking about what this could possibly mean for Lorelai and Christopher. "I wanna hear all the details tomorrow," Sookie said, finally agreeing to go home.

"Mmkay," she said as she stood up from the stool and took Sookie's apron off of her. "I'll grab you in between the walking down the aisle and the getting married." Sookie chuckled as she finally left the kitchen and headed home for a few more hours of sleep.

* * *

Lorelai sighed contentedly as she snuggled a little closer in to Christopher's naked side. After discussing what exactly they were embarking upon, and eating a few snacks, they fell into bed again, intent on making up for lost time. She felt really good about the relationship with time. For the first time ever, they both seemed to be in the same place. Rory was finally going to have her father consistently in her life and Charlie wasn't going to remember a time when he wasn't in her life.

She yawned as she sighed contently, already planning out the conversation she was going to have with Rory about all of this as well as her parents. She eventually drifted off, her head resting on Chris' chest.

* * *

Luke sighed and shook his head as Jess stalked out of his apartment. This definitely was not what he had expected to have happen when he woke up this morning.

He had just agreed to let Jess live with him again on the condition that he graduate high school and Jess had just taken off to find Rory, even though Luke had told him not to.

If his relationship with Lorelai was on the rocks now, he hated to think about what it was going to be like after she realised that Jess was back in town.

* * *

"And where exactly were you last night?" Rory asked when her mother finally got home the next morning.

"I was at the Inn," she said as she kicked off her shoes and headed to the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Decorating?" Rory asked as she stepped over Charlie who was playing on the floor.

"Not exactly," she said, not looking Rory in the eye as she drank her coffee. Rory cocked an eye brow as she stared hard at Lorelai. "You're dad and I are. . . "

"Yes?" she prompted.

"We're trying again," she said finally, a nervous smile on her face.

"Really?" Rory asked, slightly hesitant upon hearing this. Lorelai sighed and explained everything to Rory. She told her how she and Chris were finally in the same place. He had grown up, he had a steady job, he was keeping in contact with all of them regularly. . . It was finally time for them to be a family. "Are you sure?" Rory asked, still not completely convinced about this.

"Yes Rory, I am. We had a long talk, a really good long talk about everything and I feel really good about this."

"I really want to believe you, I really do," she said sincerely.

"But?"

"But he's always making promises. He's always good about making the promises but when it comes time to follow through, he bails out and heads to California."

"He lives in Boston now Sweetie," Lorelai supplied with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.

"Mom," Rory said again, her serious face firmly in place.

"I'm sure, honey," she said calmly, holding Rory by the shoulders. "I wouldn't be bringing this up if I wasn't sure. We've always been drifting and waiting for this and now it's here and I'm not going to let it slip away." Rory stared at her feet for a moment as Lorelai rubbed her hands up and down Rory's arms. "Rory?"

"I'm happy for you," she said finally, a tight smile on her face.

"Thank you," she said as she hugged Rory.

"Can I interrogate him?"

"Be my guest," she said as she dropped a kiss on Rory's forehead. "I am now going to go and shower. I'm assuming you've already showered, given the wet hair?" Rory nodded in the affirmative. "I'm going to shower, then I'm bathing your dirty, dirty sister."

"You still want to be there by 1?"

"Yep," she said as she finished her coffee and headed to grab Charlie.

"I'll start harassing you about the time around noon," Rory pointed out as she headed to her room to work on some homework.

"Good good," she said as she swung Charlie up on to her hip, grabbing the toy she had been playing with. She quickly deposited Charlie and her toy into her crib as she grabbed a change of clothes before heading into the bathroom.

Just as Rory made it to her desk, the phone rang. She sighed and considered simply letting the machine get it, but changed her mind at the last minute.

"Hello?" Paris quickly began talking a mile a minute about how she and Rory were, at this very moment, unofficial president and vice president of the Chilton Student union. Rory simply blinked away as Paris rattled on. "Huh," was all Rory could say after she hung up the phone. Looks like she was going to have to decide if she was going to spend 6 weeks in Washington with Paris at a junior leadership conference.

* * *

"Where's Charlie?" Chris asked as he finally found Lorelai in the crowd at the Inn.

"Off with Rory and Lane," she said with a smile. She giggled as Chris pulled her tight against him and kissed. "Stop it," she said with a large smile as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Stop what?" he asked with a smirk.

"Stop looking at me like that or everyone here will think we did it," she snickered as he kissed her again. "There, that'll throw 'em off the track," she giggled again.

"So, this morning you woke up and felt sorry about last night?"

"No," she said, smiling coyly as he continued to press her about how she felt about things. As he leaned in to kiss her again, she caught site of her parents and pushed him away, greeting then hastily. As pleasantries were exchanged between the group, Lorelai tried to keep the wide smile off of her face, but she knew she was failing miserably at it. As Christopher and Richard went off to get drinks for the group, Lorelai tried to duck off to find her girls but Emily was faster. She grabbed her daughter by the arm and dragged her along with her.

"What on earth is Christopher doing here?" she asked, a smirk on her face. As Lorelai grinned as well and said that he was visiting his kids, something he had been doing a lot more recently, Emily picked up on the subtext of the discussion. "Well, I'll be damned," she said with a large smile, very pleased with the developments.

* * *

As the wedding got closer to starting, Christopher finally found Rory and Charlie, wandering around the grounds of the Independence Inn. As they wandered, Chris pussy footed around what he really wanted to ask and he was more than a little relieved when Rory finally stumbled upon it.

"What exactly are your intentions?" she asked, point blank, as they came to a stop on the small foot bridge.

"Excuse me?" he asked with a snicker.

"Your intentions. Are they honourable?" Rory asked, shifting Charlie from one arm to the other.

"Completely honourable," Chris insisted as he liberated Charlie from Rory. She leaned against the bridge railing as she observed her father for a moment.

"Yeah? Because we have been waiting for this for a really long time and we take disappointment extremely hard," she said, looking him right in the eye. "I mean it, property damage is often involved."

"Well, I better follow through on this, huh?" he asked with a smile before turning his attention to the baby and asking her what she thought about all of this. Charlie looked at him for a long moment before she turned her attention to the ducks that were swimming lazily down the little creek that ran through the Inn's property.

"I think that's an excellent idea," Rory agreed with a smile.

"Come here, you," he said with a big smile as he pulled Rory to him with his free hand and hugged her. They broke apart when Chris' cell phone went off. As he wandered off, Charlie still in his arms, to answer his cell phone, Rory turned around with the intention of finding her mother, she was more than a little shocked to see Jess leaning against a tree in the back ground.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked over to him.

"I moved back," he answered with a shrug, his hands still shoved deep in his pockets.

"What?" she demanded as she stepped a little closer to him.

"I moved back," he answered again, finally pulling his hands out of his pockets.

"But. . What. . . Why?"

"Just wanted to." The pair stared at each other for a moment before Rory closed the gap between them and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him. Jess stood still for a moment before his brain caught up to what was going on. As soon as that happened, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him.

"Oh my God," she said quickly after she broke the kiss. They stood looking at each other, both trying to catch their breath.

"Rory," Jess started.

"I have to go," she said, turning on her heel and jogging off towards the ceremony. "Oh, welcome home!" she called to him with a waive as she continued on her way.

* * *

"Where's your dad?" Lorelai asked as Rory jogged over to her, just as the ceremony was starting.

"I don't know," she said, slightly out of breath as she accepted her bouquet from her mother. "His cell phone rang and he went off to answer it. He had Charlie with him, so he'll probably be back eventually," she rambled. Lorelai furrowed her brow slightly as she looked over at Rory.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it was just a long run. Are you ready?"

"Sure, let's go," she said as they took another moment to compose themselves before they headed towards the Chuppa that was decorated on the lawn.

* * *

Rory smiled and accepted Charlie from her father after the ceremony had ended. She looked around at the crowd for a moment before she began to wander off in the direction where she had met Jess before the ceremony. Lorelai frowned a little as she watched Rory and Charlie wander off, but she was quickly distracted when Chris came over.

"Hey," she said brightly, a large smile on her face. "Wasn't the ceremony beautiful?" she asked as she threw her arms around him and tried to kiss him.

"I have to go," he said quietly, unwrapping her arms from around his neck.

"What? Why?"

"I have to take care of something," he told her, looking everywhere but at him.

"Chris!" she said, scrambling to get a hold of him to make him stay and talk to her.

"Sherry called, she's back," he finally said. She asked if he was going to tell Sherry that he was moving out, but when she saw the look on his face, she knew that he wasn't.

"Well, uh, drive safe," she said with a shrug, resigning herself to the fact that it was over before it had started yet again.

"Drive safe?" he asked, not really believing that that was all she had to say.

"Yeah, drive safe. I mean, you know, you're still Rory and Charlie's dad right? So whatever happens or doesn't happen between us, I still need you to drive safe," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was beginning to grow agitated with the conversation.

"Lorelai," he pleaded with her, trying to grab her and stop her from walking away.

"Just go, Chris!"

"Sherry's pregnant!" he blurted out. Lorelai stopped in her tracks.

"Oh," was all she could say, her back still turned to him. He approached her slowly, muttering about how he didn't know why this was happening and how he had been so happy last night and he really wanted them to be together.

"I missed it before with Rory and Charlie. I wasn't there, I wasn't a part of it," he said quickly.

"I know," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "Believe me, I know."

"Lor, I didn't mean for this to happen," he pleaded with her.

"You never do, Chris, but it happens. It happened twice with us and now with Sherry," she said, trying not to cry about this. "Why now, Chris? Why are you ready now? What's changed in the last two years?"

"Lor," he started. She watched as he fumbled for something to say before he simply threw his hands up in the air.

"Never mind," she said as she turned to leave.

"Lor, come on!" he called, jogging after her. He finally caught up and grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop and turn around.

"No, Chris. I can't do this. My best friend just got married and I have to go back there and be happy for her and Jackson and right now? Right now it hurts to even stand here and look at you. I need you to go Chris."

"But. . ."

"No. I need you to turn around and just leave so I can pretend to be happy for Sookie and collect myself so I can tell Rory." The pair of them looked at each other for a long moment.

"I'm so sorry Lorelai," he said quietly.

"Me too," she said, taking a deep breath as they looked at each other for a moment longer before he finally turned and slunk away, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his pants. Lorelai watched Chris walk away from her, again, before she finally turned on her heels and headed back to the reception. She immediately picked Rory and Charlie out of the crowd and she headed over to them and sat beside them, taking Charlie from Rory and holding her close.

"I think I'm going to Washington," Rory said quietly, distractedly, as she watched the couples dancing.

"Oh," Lorelai said distracted. "Okay," she added quietly as she kissed the top of Charlie's head before she turned her attention to the couples dancing as well.

* * *

The weeks after Sookie's wedding passed slowly for the girls. As Rory tried to distract herself with school and studying for finals, Lorelai threw herself into work at the Inn. Between the fight she was having with Luke and Christopher leaving and knowing that Rory would be spending 6 weeks in Washington, she didn't really know what to do with herself. She was even finding it hard to become excited about Charlie's first birthday.

"If we promise to never do this again, do you think we could stick to that plan this time?" Rory asked one night as she wrapped her arms around her mother.

"We can always try," Lorelai muttered into her hair. "Are you packed?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'll be ready to leave right after Charlie's party," she said quietly, making no moves to pull away from her mother.

* * *

"Happy birthday little girl," Lorelai muttered to Charlie as she leaned over the edge of the crib at 2:07 in the morning of June 1st. Charlie snuffled in her sleep, but didn't wake up. Lorelai sighed a little before she started to rattle through Charlie's personal version of the traditional birthday story. When she was done, she stood over the crib for a moment longer. If things had played out the way she wanted them to, Christopher would have been here with her right now, snickering away and teasing her slightly.

"I'm sorry we can't get it together," she muttered to Charlie. She remembered giving a similar speech to Rory, more than once. "Your dad loves you, he really does. He loves you more than anything in the world but. . . I don't know Charlie. I don't know why we can't get things together and be a family. I swore that the next time I had a kid, I would be married but, you came along and I don't regret it for a minute. Still . . . You have no idea how much I wish I could give you a full time father." Lorelai paused in her little speech to stare at her baby for a moment. "I am so sorry Charlie," she said again quietly as she finally pushed away from the crib and crawled back into bed. She huddled under the covers, pulling a pillow tight against her chest and stared out the window for a long moment, closing her eyes and letting the soft June breeze blow over her as she finally let herself fall apart and mourn the disintegration of her almost relationship with Chris once again.

* * *

Well, there it is. I know there wasn't a whole lot of Luke in season two, but believe me, season 3 is TOTALLY making up for that. 


End file.
